Art in Context: Understanding Aesthetic Value

by David E.W. Fenner

Ohio University Press, 2008
eISBN: 978-0-8040-4034-1 | Cloth: 978-0-8040-1104-4 | Paper: 978-0-8040-1105-1
Library of Congress Classification BH301.E8F46 2008
Dewey Decimal Classification 701.17

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC

ABOUT THIS BOOK

The various lenses—ethical, political, sexual, religious, and so forth—through which we may view art are often instrumental in giving us an appreciation of the work. In Art in Context: Understanding Aesthetic Value, philosopher David Fenner presents a straightforward, accessible overview of the arguments about the importance of considering the relevant context in determining the true merit of a work of art.

Art in Context is a systematic, historically situated, and historically evidenced attempt to demonstrate the importance of considering contexts that will, in the vast majority of cases, increase the aesthetic experience. While focusing on distance, detachment, aestheticism, art for art’s sake, and formalism can at times be instructive and interesting, such approaches risk missing the larger and often central issue of the piece.

Based on the findings of philosophers and critics, and on artwork throughout
history, Art in Context provides a solid foundation for understanding and valuing a work of art in perspective as well as within the particular world in which it exists.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

David E. W. Fenner is dean of the Graduate School at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. He is the author of The Aesthetic Attitude and Introducing Aesthetics and the editor of Ethics and the Arts and Ethics in Education.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
Preface	000
Acknowledgments	000
Introduction	1
The Public Art Museum	000
The Advent of Art Museums as Decontextualized Spaces and the Advent of Disinterest Theory
	000
Chapter One: A Theory of "The Aesthetic"	000
Defining the Aesthetic	000
Aesthetic Experience as Basic	000
Describing Aesthetic Experience	000
Aesthetic Experience as a Psychological Phenomenon	000
Formal Analysis	000
External Factors	000
Associations	000
Contexts	000
An Inductivist Approach to Understanding Aesthetic Experience	000
Lessons on Defining the Aesthetic	000
Chapter Two: The Value of Art	000
Intrinsic Value Accounts and Anita Silvers's Revisionism	000
Instrumental Value Accounts	000
Monroe C. Beardsley's Aesthetic Account	000
Considering Beardsley's Account	000
Nelson Goodman's Cognitivist Account	000
Considering Goodman's Account	000
Leo Tolstoy's Affective Account	000
Considering Tolstoy's Account	000
Alan H. Goldman's Alternative World Account	000
Considering Goldman's Account	000
The Modification Problem	000
A Noninstrumental Extrinsic Value Account	000
Lessons on Value Accounts	000
Chapter Three: Disinterest Theory and Formalist Theory	000
Disinterest as the Basis for Aesthetic Judgment	000
Lord Shaftesbury	000
Francis Hutcheson	000
Joseph Addison	000
Archibald Alison	000
David Hume	000
Immanuel Kant	000
Disinterest as the Basis for Aesthetic Experience	000
Arthur Schopenhauer	000
Edward Bullough and Psychical Distance	000
Jerome Stolnitz	000
Disinterest Theory Summarized	000
Formalism	000
Chapter Four: Contextualist Theory	000
On Aesthetic Perspective	000
Feminist Aesthetics as "Meta-Aesthetics"	000
The View from Somewhere	000
Aesthetic Experience	000
George Santayana	000
Roger Scruton	000
John Dewey	000
Anita Silvers	000
Monroe Beardsley	000
Frank Sibley	000
Arnold Berleant	000
Allen Carlson	000
The Nature of Art and Artworks	000
Morris Weitz	000
Arthur Danto	000
Jerrold Levinson	000
Kendall Walton	000
Stephen Davies	000
Internal and External Rules for a Given Work of Art	000
Moral, Ethical, Social, and Political Considerations	000
Plato	000
Leo Tolstoy	000
Noøl Carroll	000
Berys Gaut	000
Marcia Muelder Eaton	000
Mary Devereaux	000
Disinterest Theory Under Assault	000
Chapter Five: Issues of Definition	000
Modern Art	000
Functional Art and Architecture	000
Example One: Wright's Barrel Chair	000
Example Two: Automobile Styling	000
Example Three: Theater Design	000
Dance	000
Chapter Six: Issues Concerning the Power of Art	000
Emotion	000
Expressivist Theory	000
Inspiration	000
Catharsis	000
Humor	000
Identification	000
Personal Identification	000
Gender and Sex	000
Ethnicity	000
Nationality and Politics	000
Class	000
Religious Identity	000
Imagination	000
Chapter Seven: Issues of Meaningfulness	000
Political Meaningfulness	000
Political Art Theory and Karl Marx	000
Political Art Theory and Mao Tse-tung	000
Nationalist Art	000
Political Context and the Value of Art	000
Religious Meaningfulness	000
Ritual	000
Institutional Rituals	000
Social Rituals	000
Personal Rituals	000
Elements in Common	000
Rituals and Function	000
Chapter Eight: Science and Contextualist Aesthetics	000
Aesthetic Properties and Scientific Theory	000
Aesthetic versus Epistemic Considerations	000
Positive Environmental Aesthetics	000
Aesthetic Approaches in Social-Scientific Research	000
Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies	000
Making a Methodological Choice	000
Contextualism in Social-Scientific Research	000
Chapter Nine: A Review of the Arguments and Evidence	000
Supporting Arguments	000
The Nature of Aesthetic Attention	000
Revisionist Art Evaluation	000
Feminist Aesthetics	000
Aesthetic Experience	000
The Nature of Art and Artworks	000
Moral, Ethical, Social, and Political Considerations	000
The Unnaturalness of Disinterest	000
Decontextualism and Elitism	000
The Internal and External Logics of Artworks	000
Appreciating Aesthetic Properties	000
The Relativity of Taste	000
Premise One: The Theoretical, Major Premise	000
Premise Two: The Empirical, Evidentiary Premise	000
Evidence Set One: Defining Modern Art	000
Evidence Set Two: Defining Architecture	000
Evidence Set Three: Defining Dance	000
Evidence Set Four: Emotion and Inspiration	000
Evidence Set Five: Emotion and Catharsis	000
Evidence Set Six: Emotion and Humor	000
Evidence Set Seven: Personal Identification	000
Evidence Set Eight: Identification, Gender, and Sex	000
Evidence Set Nine: Identification and Ethnicity	000
Evidence Set Ten: Identification, Nationality, and Politics	000
Evidence Set Eleven: Identification and Class	000
Evidence Set Twelve: Religious Identification	000
Evidence Set Thirteen: Imagination	000
Evidence Set Fourteen: Political Meaningfulness	000
Evidence Set Fifteen: Religious Meaningfulness	000
Evidence Set Sixteen: The Nature of Ritual	000
Final Remarks	000
Notes	000
Bibliography	000
Index	000

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