Aesthetic Cognition

This article aims to connect issues in the epistemology of modality with issues in the philosophy of music, exploring how modalizing takes place in the context of musical performance. On the basis of studies of jazz improvisation and of classical music, it is shown that considerations about what is sonically, musically, and agentively possible play an important role for performers in the Western tonal tradition. We give a more systematic sketch of how a modal epistemology for musical performance could be (...) constructed. We argue that it is necessary to adopt a pluralist approach toward the modal epistemology of music. (shrink)

The term ‘kitsch’, widely laden with negative connotations, has often been used to designate worthless art, synonymous with artistic failure. However, there is something in kitsch that, beyond its apparent poor quality, distinguishes it from other art forms as something novel, peculiar, and even profoundly interesting. Kitsch art generates an irresistible force of attraction towards its spectators that greatly captures attention. This allure belongs to a rarefied nature that brings to light the pleasures and delight of purely aesthetic appeal. Its (...) apparent lack of value is thus mitigated by its promotion of a radically relativistic attitude that establishes a conciliatory balance between attractiveness and horridness. It is here that all its power to shape our experience of the world resides. (shrink)

This article addresses the problem of perceiving Kitsch art and elaborates on the philosophical approaches taken to better understand all intellectual contexts surrounding the term, aiming to endorse its aesthetic aspect and assert its rightness to be subsumed under the notion of high art, the researchers sought to argue that besides the claim that the main issue of reading Kitsch was laid on miss-perceiving it, by means it was a problem of perception, we add to this assertion that it was (...) also a problem of _misinterpretation_, that critics have constrained their judgments on Kitsch art by narrowed and prejudiced contentions while many aesthetic theories can ascertain its aesthetic existence at the time, and the most crucial one is the theories on aesthetic emotions, for it was the emotional charge of Kitsch paintings which the critics used to reject and vastly criticize to deny its ability to conceive any aesthetic features. (shrink)

A book review of Sallis, John (2024) Premeny. O pravom zmysle umenia. Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Minor, Kapucíni na Slovensku. ISBN 978-80-89888-38-2.

In this article I reply to commentary on Immaterial: Rules in Contemporary Art (Oxford, 2022) by Shelby Moser, Darren Hudson Hick, and Guy Rohrbaugh.

This is a précis of Immaterial: Rules in Contemporary Art (Oxford, 2022). Contemporary art can seem like a wilderness of unwieldy installations, decaying materials, immersive environments, and audience participation. It can be hard to know what to focus on and how to assess the value or meaning of what we encounter, since so many artworks use non-art materials and techniques and defy familiar conventions. In Immaterial: Rules in Contemporary Art, I argue that these developments, disparate as they may seem, can (...) be understood by shifting our focus to the rules that artists articulate in creating and deploying their works. Rules have become an artistic medium that artists customize to achieve specific artistic statements and aesthetic effects. Rules are partly, and sometimes wholly, constitutive of the very structure of the artwork; grasping the rules associated with a work is thus crucial to understanding its nature. Articulating these rules, which may be quite specific and fine-grained, is part of the act of artmaking, and the rules bear meaning just as essential physical objects do. (shrink)

This paper argues for a distinction between pretending and imagining. Pretending has a public and observable aspect, which imagining does not. The paper then uses this distinction to argue that various forms of fiction, including literature and the theater, do not essentially involve pretence.

According to the most important objection to the existence of moral beauty, true judgements of moral beauty are not possible as moral judgements require being motivated to act in line with the moral judgement made, and judgements of beauty require not being motivated to act in any way. Here, I clarify the argument underlying the objection and demonstrate that it does not show that moral beauty does not exist. I present two responses: namely, that the beauty of moral beauty does (...) not lie in the moral goodness per se (the ‘adjacent properties’ response), and that only a dispositional motivation to act is required for the moral judgements that are typically made as part of judgements of moral beauty, whereas aesthetic judgements only rule out state motivations to act (the ‘equivocation of motivation required’ response). In addressing the objection, I show how moral beauty is consistent with disinterestedness, and so should be accepted more widely; also clarifying where the beauty in moral beauty resides, and how the moral–aesthetic distinction should be drawn. (shrink)

Why should musical compositions and artistic images be included among the types of expression covered by free speech principles? One way to answer this question is to show how expression in nonverbal media can be functionally similar to other types of verbal expression. But this leaves us with an intuitively unsatisfying explanation of why free speech principles cover nonverbal creative expression that does not functionally emulate literal speech. In this article, as an alternative justification, we develop and defend the idea (...) that musical and pictorial expression‚ much like literal speech, can be media through which people think aloud, as opposed to mere tools for the transmission of thought. We use this proposal to provide a more robust justification for including nonverbal creative expression in the scope of free speech coverage, and we outline some of the practical policy implications that come with adopting this justificatory strategy. (shrink)

Filmmaking with Artificial Intelligence Image Generation Models In just about one year, OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT 4 has caused panic in our daily lives. After a year, OpenAI introduced Sora, a moving image-generating model from text, similar to DALL-E for still images. Even though Sora is not yet available to the public, the very potential itself has raised issues in film production from the perspectives of producers and studios, as well as directors, actors, writers, and editors. In this chapter, the (...) role and expected impact of AI video generation technologies, such as OpenAI Sora and Stable Diffusion 3, will be considered in regard to filmmaking. To discuss these issues, it is necessary to further analyze the concept of artificial intelligence, what it means, and how it is misunderstood by the general public. These misunderstandings also lead to sci-fi fantasy and doomsday talk, adding nothing valuable to the debate. Once this concept is defined, the argument of why an artificial general intelligence akin to a human being is unlikely will be set, mostly referring to Hubert Dreyfus and David Chalmers. However, even though the good old-fashioned AI seems impossible, the AI tools we have now seem to be enough to cause many of the problems that the thought of a complete artificial intelligence also brings forth. It is important to treat these tools as tools and not entities in their current forms to focus on the more practical problems regarding human labor, interaction, and experience in the world. In this regard, it is important to look back in history to see how technology has shifted ways of making films. When thought of as such, it becomes clearer that these tools will likely not end human involvement in the practice of creating art but transform the methods and aesthetics of film production, challenging conventions in both artistic and commercial works in some ways and exaggerating them in others. Furthermore, the chapter will consist of the investigation of the impact of various AI tools on human creativity. Regarding human creativity, commercial films will most likely go through a paradigm shift. Production companies will most likely regard this shift as a way of improving performance and production. However, this advancement poses dire questions in the field and pursuit of creating art. AI tools help automate and accelerate the filmmaking process at the cost of filmmaking as an art form. The discussion will address why commercial filmmaking will see a paradigm shift and loss of some human labor, but in an optimistic world of philosophical thought, film as fine art will gain much in return. This is because AI tools in their current and foreseeable state are not capable of willing to make art due to their limitations regarding embodied cognition, experience, unconsciousness, and intuition. These things make us what we are more than we think. There is no better way to explain why human beings make art than to show how tools do not matter but the ideas and the will to do it. -/- . (shrink)

This article presents a visualist theory of design that contrasts with the instrumental rationalism that dominates the philosophy of design. My critique of rationalism is based on two omnipresent and paradigmatic phenomena in design: the variety of forms for one single function and the variety of uses of one form. Instrumental rationalism defines design as a coherent line that runs from a rational goal to the proper means and proper use of an object. Therefore, this philosophy values design according to (...) its efficiency. However, the diverse aesthetic forms of design objects and the creative ways that users engage with them. do not follow the instrumental rational plan, but rather aesthetic motivations and design’s visual affordance. I argue that the variety of forms of design objects and emergent uses are often more substantial than rationality in the constitution of design. Claiming that these encounters are innate to our essence and ontology as visual beings, I offer a visualist anti-rationalist theory of design and human nature. Keywords: instrumental rationalism, form, affordance, emergent properties, Visualism. (shrink)

Design is an omnipresent, aesthetic-functional phenomenon, one that is culturally loaded and broadly influential. Since ancient times, design has played a crucial role in shaping both our intimate daily experiences and broader societal structures. It influences behavior, preferences, cultural norms and movements, political or personal identities, and economic systems. Today, design is not only a thriving field of practice but also an evolving area of academic inquiry, one that is becoming a self-standing discipline. It is, of course, important to define (...) ‘design’ . But, in developing our understanding of it, we also need to analyze its relationships to associated fields, such as ontology, cognition and perception, ethics, politics, social conduct, fine or popular art, everyday aesthetics, and science and technology. The special issue Design and its Relations takes up this mission. We aim to reveal and study the interactions between design as an aesthetic-functional field and various auxiliary concepts, ideas, phenomena, and disciplines. The essays in the special issue thus address a range of design affiliations. These include both (a) relatively abstract affiliations—such as aesthetics, perception and appreciation, beauty, ethics, science, rationalism, and the idea of abstractness itself—and (b) more direct topics, including design’s relations to photographic systems and even cultural views of parenthood given through the evolution of crib shapes (which is a typical substantiation of design’s impact on humanity’s foundations). (shrink)

Both aestheticians and social epistemologists are concerned with disagreement. However, in large part, their literature has yet to overlap substantially in terms of discussing whether there are viable conceptions of aesthetic peerhood and what the significance of aesthetic peer disagreement might be as a result. This article aims to address this gap. Taking cues from both the aesthetics and social epistemological literature, it develops several conceptions of aesthetic peerhood that are not only constituted by various forms of cognitive peerhood and (...) affective peerhood, but which are also framed by a specific model of ordinary peer disagreement. For each of these conceptions, it suggests what the significance of ordinary aesthetic peer disagreement might be and how future discussions about it might proceed for both aestheticians and social epistemologists alike. (shrink)

There is systematic epistemic asymmetry between different centers of art production: we know far more about some (e.g. fifteenth-century Italian paintings) than about others (e.g. fifteenth-century Inca textiles). As long as we are focusing on the social context of the artworks or the artist’s intention, this epistemic asymmetry remains, given that we have vastly more information about the social context of the artworks or the artist’s intention when it comes to ‘Western’ art—again, because of the historically contingent differences in record-keeping (...) and the survival rate of such records. If we want to overcome the epistemic asymmetry between ‘Western’ and ‘Non-Western’ art, we need to look elsewhere. I will argue, using Franz Boas’s work, that we should look for formal features. In order to avoid the epistemic asymmetry that follows from the historically contingent fact that we have more information about some cultures than about others, we need to start our analysis with formal categories. (shrink)

Winner of the Fabian Dorsch ESA Essay Prize.For cognitivist accounts of aesthetic appreciation, appreciation requires an agent (1) to perceptually respond to the relevant aesthetic features of an object o on good evidential grounds, (2) to have an autonomous grasp of the reasons that make the claim about the aesthetic features of o true by pointing out the connection between non-aesthetic features and the aesthetic features of o, (3) to be able to provide an explanation of why those features contribute (...) to the overall aesthetic value of o. In this framework, aesthetic emotions have traditionally been confined to the level of aesthetic perception (1) and dismissed from the process of reason-giving (2, 3). I argue that this dismissal is due, firstly, to a questionable perceptual reading of the connection between emotional experience and value, and, secondly, to a narrow focus on the basic emotions. My argument will reveal that the non-standard or ‘intellectual’ emotions, the emotions which are in fact most important to appreciation, can play a significant epistemic role in our appreciative practices. They can do this because they (a) help us to deliberately focus our attention and (b) place the appreciator in a state of second-order awareness of their mental states. I conclude the paper by showing how these two epistemic tools (a, b) can help the appreciator to meet the explanatory/justificatory conditions (2) and (3). (shrink)

If we accept that Kandinsky developed a systematic theory of the fundamentals of painting, we must ask what is the central concept underlying this attempt. This paper argues for the thesis that objectless vibration plays a central role in the reconstruction proposed Kandinsky’s first book, ”Concerning the Spiritual in Art”. This kind of vibration includes as a virtual field both shapes, sounds and colors. All these “fall” in an organized way from the virtual vibrations, and the purpose of abstract painting (...) is to lift the mind beyond the specific distinctions of the visible world of objects to the abstract level of primordial vibrations. The article examines the origin, functions, and the effect this concept has on color theory. (shrink)

Seit ungefähr Mitte der 90er-Jahre und bis heute wird der Frage nach dem Zusammenhang zwischen Ästhetik und Ethik hauptsächlich in der angloamerikanischen und der angelsächsischen analytischen Ästhetik besondere Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. In der Einleitung des Bandes Aesthetics and Ethics. Essays at the Intersection (1998), der eine der ersten Publikationen über das Thema ist, macht Levinson deutlich, dass das Buch das Ziel hat, Debatten der Ästhetik und Ethik zu verbinden, die während der vergangenen 30 Jahre isoliert behandelt worden sind (Levinson 1998, 1). (...) Er bezieht sich dabei auf die angloamerikanische Ästhetik. Seit der Veröffentlichung dieses Bandes ist eine beachtliche Zahl von Beiträgen entstanden, die explizit Themen an der Schnittstelle beider Disziplinen behandeln. Vor diesem Hintergrund soll in diesem Beitrag die Beziehung zwischen Ästhetik und Ethik unter dem Gesichtspunkt der zeitgenössischen philosophischen Ästhetik behandelt werden. Dabei sollen die Anknüpfungspunkte zwischen der neuen englischsprachigen Literatur und den Beiträgen in der deutschen ästhetischen Tradition sichtbar gemacht werden. (shrink)

This paper aims to show that Lessing develops in his aesthetics a pre-Kantian philosophy of consciousness. The concept of virtuality that the german writer puts forward in his essay Laocoon implies an interweaving of temporal dimensions similar to the threefold temporal synthesis described by Kant in the transcendental deduction of the Critique of Pure Reason. But whereas Kant thematizes an a priori of consciousness, Lessing is in search of an a priori of plastic art. It will be seen that perfect (...) sculpture presupposes the choice of that moment in time which can open the imagination to the past and the future in a way that enriches the present by transforming it into a "pregnant moment". The final aim of the article is to trace the genesis of the concept of simultaneity of temporal dimensions presupposed by the idea of the pregnant moment, and its implications for the idea of the temporality of consciousness. (shrink)

Aesthetic experiences play an important role in human culture and spiritual life and are closely related to aesthetic perception and appreciation of art, music, literature and natural landscapes. With the development of neuroscience and cognitive psychology, our understanding of aesthetic experiences continues to deepen; in this context, the study of neuroplasticity has attracted widespread attention. This study explores in detail how this process affects the perception of aesthetic cognition, thereby enhancing the aesthetic experience in several key ways. The study finds (...) that neuroplasticity plays a role in the evolution of an individual’s perception and appreciation of beauty, as it facilitates adjustments in perception, attention, emotion, and cross-perceptual integration based on individual experiences. These findings provide a theoretical basis for deepening the perception and appreciation of beauty and insights to better understand and advance the aesthetic experience provided by art, music and literature. Future research will explore how to maximise the use of neuroplasticity to enhance the quality and depth of the aesthetic experience, advance the field of aesthetic psychology and art research and further enrich and satisfy individuals’ perception and experience of beauty. (shrink)

For Pleasure argues that aesthetic pleasure and formal experimentalism hold the twinned capacity to maintain a global racial order and also to undo it.

Contemporary philosophy can be characterized along the lines of a profound and vigorous debate between the prevalent ideas of 20th century philosophy’s linguistic–conceptualist age, on the one hand, and the re-emergent field of what we might call ‘visualist’ philosophy on the other hand, which is experiencing a revival within the framework of the current visual turn in philosophy. Thoughtful Images: Illustrating Philosophy through Art by Thomas E. Wartenberg stands at the intersection of these two camps. The philosophical visual turn foregrounds (...) the importance of the visual sphere, and it is this sphere with which Wartenberg engages. Investigating the genre of philosophical images throughout history, Wartenberg’s significant book joins the controversy between the characterization of humans as linguistic–conceptual or rather as visual beings. Do we reach intellectual superiority only through linguistic–conceptual schemes, or, rather, is it the richness of visuality and its level of detail – which can never be fully captured by language – that allows us a true glimpse of our reality and our very selves? I shall later claim that Wartenberg falls on the linguistic–conceptualist side of the polemic. But, a concrete example that may actually support the visualist perspective is found in the book’s final chapter, which is devoted to what Wartenberg terms ‘graphic philosophy’. Here, Wartenberg analyses Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic – a memoir produced through illustrations that address the philosophical question of scepticism via Bechdel’s ‘epistemological crisis’. Bechdel is overcome with doubt over the truth status and objectivity of her own personal diary entries. Wartenberg argues that ‘this is parallel to Descartes’s worry in the Meditations that he might be mistaken about everything he takes to be true’, and is knowingly resolved by Ludwig Wittgenstein in his On Certainty (Wartenberg 2023: 282). He emphasizes the centrality of images in the memoir to portray a conceptually life-changing event for Bechdel, namely an encounter with a woman in a restaurant whose appearance assists her in figuring out her own identity. Wartenberg notes that text itself is insufficient to express Bechdel’s ideas here, arguing that ‘the visual information … is essential to our understanding of this incident in the book. Bechdel here uses a picture to convey information quickly in a readily understood manner, something that could not be done as efficiently with words alone’ (281). (shrink)

Mikkonen’s new book and his emphasis on understanding should be regarded as an important contribution to the contemporary debate on the cognitive value of literary narratives. As I shall argue, his notion of understanding can also help explain how literature is existentially valuable. In so doing, his account can support a radicalized contemporary neo-cognitivism according to which literature can affect us existentially and lead to a personal transformation.

When are morally good actions beautiful, when indeed they are? In this paper, it is argued that morally good actions are beautiful when they appear to express the deep or true self, and in turn tend to give rise to an emotion which is characterised by feelings of being moved, unity, inspiration, and meaningfulness, inter alia. In advancing the case for this claim, it is revealed that there are additional sources of well-formedness in play in the context of moral beauty (...) in addition to those that have tended to be focused on to date: one which is connected to imagining a deep location for the goodness concerned, and another which is connected to imagining that the goodness stems from capacities which are essential to the person. (shrink)

Arthur C. Danto did not live to witness the proliferation of AI in artistic creation. However, his philosophy of art offers key ideas about art that can provide an interesting perspective on artwork generated by artificial intelligence (AI). In this article, I analyze how his ideas about contemporary art, intention, interpretation, and authorship could be applied to the ongoing debate about AI and artistic creation. At the same time, it is also interesting to consider whether the incorporation of AI into (...) artistic creation marks a new chapter in the narrative, which seems to have reached its end, or if it represents a significant rupture with past artistic traditions. (shrink)

Metaphor plays a central role in changing the architectural process. In order to better appreciate the nature of architectural creativity, generating more positive forms and volumes is required. Exists many conclusions which demonstrate that metaphors plays an important role shaping the design creativity. The aim of this paper is about understanding the exact role of the metaphor in architecture design from the concept of Aristotle to nowadays. Essentially it is the process by which most of the ideas come into being. (...) Metaphors structure our understanding and perceptions. They make our thoughts more interesting and more vivid. There are similar distinct uses of metaphor in architectural criticism, which is often heavily reliant on metaphor both as a form of expression and a tool of analysis. There is a dimension of meanings attached to the various uses of metaphor, ranging from the ornamental view at one hand to the rational view at the other [1].Metaphors role in the ecological design is essential and necessary. Architects use a variety of methods and techniques to enrich the architectural language. This process is accomplished with the infiltration of metaphors as a literary figure. By adopting the models of nature, there is a chance to work more sustainably and produce more sustainable products. Is this the paradigm shift we have been looking for? Maybe biomimicry and nature could be super metaphors in order to develop sustainable design. This paper should take in consideration also the metaphor as a tool implemented into design reflecting either positive or negative reactions. This theory should be explained by concrete examples. The working metaphor in the design process is another important issue to be judged. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that architectural metaphors corporate in coherent ways with architectonic language shaping its functionality. Metaphor helps to perceive things from a different perspective that is new to us, changing and bringing new ideas. Architectural metaphors can be found everywhere also in the Albanian case. It is very evident how metaphor stretches architectural functionality. (shrink)

The subject of the thesis is the relationship between aesthetic and God. It aims to discuss whether the sense of beauty is proof of the existence of God and to determine the plausibility of aesthetic proof. As a matter of fact that reality and the perception of beauty point to two-way consciousness. In this context, it will be inevitable to mention God's relation with consciousness in the emergence of beauty. In the first part, the concepts of aesthetics will be analyzed, (...) and their philosophical discussions will be investigated. In the second part, the source of beauty will be questioned, and beauty will be grounded way of a priori and a posteriori with God. Afterward, aesthetic proofs will be presented and an evaluation will be made in the context of naturalistic claims and objections. Among the traditional arguments in the philosophy of religion, aesthetic proof offers a value-oriented approach rather than a mechanical view. It appreciates beauty from an inclusive perspective and has an existential aspect. The study concentrates on the nature of beauty and aesthetics, philosophical discussions, and the rational value of aesthetic proof and concludes that it is rational to suppose that the existence of God can be ontologically and epistemologically explanatory for aesthetic properties. (shrink)

This paper explores Moritz Geiger’s work on the role of emotions in aesthetic appreciation and shows its potential for contemporary research. Drawing on the main tenets of Geiger’s phenomenological aesthetics as an aesthetics of value, the paper begins by elaborating his model of aesthetic appreciation. I argue that, placed in the contemporary debate, his model is close to affective models which make affective states responsible for the apprehension of the aesthetic value of an artwork, though Geiger also makes important concessions (...) to the intellectualist. Indeed, like proponents of the affective model, Geiger argues that a work’s aesthetic values are extracted by means of an affective state though the affective state in question is neither an emotion nor a feeling but a “liking”. In fact, like the intellectualist, he considers that a focus on the emotions might on certain occasions interfere in the aesthetic appreciation of the artwork. Next, I reconstruct Geiger’s distinction between surface and depth effects in terms of a distinction between two types of emotional responses to artworks. It is argued that Geiger’s distinction offers a powerful tool to distinguish those emotions that are intrinsically related to aesthetic values from those that are not and that this distinction can be useful to understand how different kinds of emotions contribute to aesthetic appreciation. I proceed to examine the historical sources of Geiger’s distinction between surface and depth effects in Theodor Lipps’s aesthetics and compare Geiger’s account with the works of other early phenomenologists working on values. In the final part, I illustrate the place of Geiger’s model in the contemporary discussion by means of an example. (shrink)

ntroduction to Design Theory introduces a comprehensive, systematic, and didactic outline of the discourse of design. Designed both as a course book and a source for research, this textbook methodically covers the central concepts of design theory, definitions of design, its historical milestones, and its relations to culture, industry, body, ecology, language, society, gender and ideology. -/- Demonstrated by a shift towards the importance of the sociocultural context in which products are manufactured and embedded, this book showcases design theory as (...) an emerging sub-discipline of design, unique in its practice-based approach and its broad perception of design. It offers an in-depth understanding of the central concepts, such as "form" and "function", "theory" and "practice", through a discussion of key case studies and historical examples, such as the advent of the view of design in antiquity, the introduction of mass production to modernist design or the ideological shifts in design in the mid-twentieth century, as well as analytical tools for further dissection and learning in practice. With a focus on a combination of several theoretical knowledge foundations — aesthetics and philosophy, critical theories, cultural studies, design history and design anthropology — the reader is enabled to approach design as a central pivot around which contemporary culture revolves, reflecting, reaffirming or challenging social and cultural structures. -/- Aimed towards undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as teachers and scholars, from across the design disciplines, Introduction to Design Theory invites readers to engage with design from an interdisciplinary perspective, departing from the traditional academic compartmentalisation of practice, history and philosophy. -/- . (shrink)

Este é um diálogo com o texto de Guilherme Foscolo, “Fábrica de hiperstição: ou sobre como perdemos o mundo”. Tanto o texto de Foscolo quanto este comentário foram apresentados, originalmente, no XI Encontro do GT de Estética, que ocorreu no Museu de Arte da Bahia (Salvador – BA), entre os dias 13, 14 e 15 de junho de 2022. Em uma tentativa de decifrar os caminhos teóricos trilhados por Foscolo, este ensaio busca ao mesmo tempo atualizar a situação tensa de (...) flerte com o fascismo em nosso cenário político nacional, dada toda a efervescência política entre o último ano de governo do ex-presidente e atual conjuntura com o presidente Lula empossado em seu terceiro mandato. O contexto dos últimos quatro anos foi marcado pela produção ficcional de realidades com o propósito de desorientação e cooptação das massas. O objetivo principal, aqui, é o de apontar para a compreensão das técnicas de reprodução atuais como uma estratégia para dominar a narrativa que conduz ao processo de politização, secando a fonte de retroalimentação dos sistemas fascistas hipersticiosos, caracterizado por um nefasto esquema retórico. (shrink)

"Presence" is a word that can function both as a descriptor of the uniqueness, identity, and strength of an(y) identifiable, individual work of art (as used in the phrase, its "artistic presence") and, more specifically, and with a capital P, the name of a year-long exhibit consisting of a series of artworks in a uniquely created architectural environment with the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition, as well-known art theorist Donald Preziosi points out in his 2004 essay ["Art (...) and the Contemplation off Presence"] included in this publication, the term "presence" may also refer to the character of the artist that is embodied _in_ a physical work of art, whereby the _form_ of the work is "in some way a _figure_ of its truth--the truth or essence or being of the artist..." Indeed I would suggest an even stronger defense of the artist, what I call the Intentionality Thesis, which states: _The most important spokesperson capable of elucidating the meaning of a work of art is the artist_. The Intentionality Thesis is a substantive component of my recommendation for art viewers to practice what I call "contemplative contextual criticism" (CCC, for short). Such an emphasis on intentionality is often fraught with controversy, but the Intentionality Thesis can function (within the broader framework of one's CCC) as a fruitful interpretive tool that optimizes our actual experiences of art. -/- CCC is the deliberate cognitive analysis--the act of contemplation--of a work of art that enhances the potential of artistic presence; both of the work itself and the artist who created it. It is the process of studying a work of art in its full context... (shrink)

The third issue of the Journal for the Philosophy of Language, Mind and the Arts is centered on a series of questions related to the nature of images. What properties characterize them? Do they exist also in our minds? What relationship do they have with phenomena such as perception, memory, language and interpretation? The authors participating in this issue have been asked to answer these and other questions starting from and in dialogue with the two philosophical perspectives that have most (...) enriched the study of our object of research since the second half of the twentieth century: analytical philosophy and visual culture studies. The first four essays address problems related to ontology (Didi-Huberman, Prinz, Bantinaki, Manzotti). In their pages the question will be asked not only about the nature of images but also about what it means for an image to represent an object or an action realistically. The second part contains discussions related to the topics of perception, appreciation and creation of pictures (Ferretti; Gavaler, Goldberg; Pigoni, Coraci, Carlenzi). The third section goes through the problems related to the very concept of representing by images (Biggs; Weichert; Derby). The last section of the issue is devoted to two cases in which images are used not so much and not only to represent something, but also to convey ethical-political values (Fasnacht; Olesiejuk). (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: The Nature of Beauty Truth, Goodness, and Beauty Beauty and the Blues Notes.

In our life with science, we trust experts; we form judgements by inference from past evidence. We conduct ourselves very differently in the aesthetic domain. We avoid deferring to aesthetic experts. We form our judgements through direct perception of particulars rather than through inference. Why the difference? I suggest that we avoid aesthetic testimony and aesthetic inference, not because they’re unusable, but because we have adopted social norms to avoid them. Aesthetic appreciation turns out to be something like a game. (...) We have laid down certain rules and restrictions in order to shape a kind of activity we cherish. And aesthetic properties turn out to be a kind of social construct. Much like the goal of a game, they are constituted in part by our obedience to certain rules. The norms of aesthetic life are different from those of science because our purposes are different. We engage in science to get the right answers; we engage in aesthetic appreciation to be absorbed in the activity of the sensuous perception of particulars. Our aesthetic practices are a constructed shelter from science; they restore to us a small domain where we may once again engage in our own sensuous perception of particulars. (shrink)

C. Thi Nguyen claims that although we can make aesthetic judgements based on testimony or inference, we resist doing so owing to a contingent norm of our social practice. For Nguyen, aesthetic engagement involves a ‘motivational inversion’ similar to games in which we adopt inefficient means of winning so that we can enjoy the process of playing. Similarly, he says, adopting the norm enables us to engage in the autonomous activity of appreciation. I argue that Nguyen is right that the (...) purpose of our practice is appreciation, but wrong to think any motivational inversion is required in pursuing it. (shrink)

Is shadowboxing an effective form of functional exercise? What physiological and morphological changes result from an exercise program based exclusively on shadowboxing for 3 weeks? To date, no empirical research has focused specifically on addressing these questions. Since mixed martial arts (MMA) is the fastest growing sport in the world, and since boxing and kickboxing fitness classes are among the most popular in gyms and fitness clubs worldwide, the lack of research on shadowboxing and martial arts-based fitness programs in the (...) extant literature is a shortcoming that the present article aims to address. This case study involved a previously sedentary individual engaging in an exercise program based exclusively on shadowboxing for 3 weeks. Body composition and heart rate data were collected before, throughout, and upon completion of the 3-week exercise program to determine the effectiveness of shadowboxing for functional fitness purposes. An original shadowboxing program prepared by an Everlast Master Instructor and NASM Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES) was used for this 3-week period. The original shadowboxing program with goals, techniques, and combinations to work on throughout the 3-week program is included in this article. This case study demonstrates that a 3-week exercise program based exclusively on shadowboxing can increase aerobic capacity, muscle mass, bone mass, basal metabolic rate, and daily calorie intake, and decrease resting heart rate, fat mass, body fat percentage, and visceral fat rating in a previously sedentary individual. The results of this research demonstrate that shadowboxing can be a safe and effective form of exercise leading to morphological and physiological improvements including fat loss and increased aerobic capacity. The results of this research also demonstrate that the Tanita BC-1500 is a reliable tool for individuals to evaluate their own fitness progress over time. (shrink)

本书包括青年与审美:审美的心理条件;爱情与审美;生活与审美;自然与审美;艺术与审美等内容。.

In this article, I defend the cognitive value of certain generic television series. Unlike media and television scholars, who have been appreciative of the informative capacity of television fiction, philosophers have been less willing to acknowledge the way in which these works contribute to our understanding of our social reality. My aim here is to provide one such account, grounded in aesthetic cognitivism, that is, the view that fiction is a source of knowledge. Focusing on crime and courtroom dramas, I (...) start by offering some examples of the cognitive benefits available in some of these series and I argue that the more beneficial cases establish superior mimetic relations with reality, enhancing their capacity to present ethically challenging issues. I then examine whether the fictional dimension of these works presents an obstacle to their informative potential and I conclude that it does not. A central aspect of my account is the claim that the degree of cognitive benefit depends on the underlying narrative strategy of the series. Specifically, there are clues in any given show, including the treatment of ongoing characters, which signal the extent to which it can be taken as mimetically reliable and thus, cognitively valuable. I complete my account by addressing anti-cognitivists’ arguments which call to doubt the informative aspect of television series and their capacity to address ethical concerns. (shrink)

本书通过事例告诉人们美的灵感究竟是怎样产生的,怎样了解审美意识的心理过程和心理结构等。.