Aesthetics and Material Beauty: Aesthetics Naturalized

by McMahon; Jennifer A.

• ISBN13: 9780415378307
• ISBN10: 0415378303
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781135195632
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-10-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In this book , Jennifer A. McMahon develops a new aesthetic theory she terms Critical Aesthetic Realism - taking Kantian aesthetics as a starting point and drawing upon contemporary theories of mind from philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science.

Author Biography

Jennifer A. McMahon is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Adelaide, Australia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. X
Introduction: Formalism and the Problem of Beauty	p. 1
Background	p. 1
Formalism and cognitivism	p. 5
Beauty and desire	p. 13
Beauty and the sublime	p. 16
The way ahead: aims and methodology	p. 17
Universality and Subjectivity	p. 21
Introduction	p. 21
Aesthetic ideas and creativity	p. 21
Aesthetic ideas and the beauty of nature	p. 33
The functional role of beauty and the systematicity of nature	p. 35
Conclusion	p. 37
Objectivity and Autonomy	p. 39
Introduction: the principles of objectivity	p. 39
The aesthetic characterization	p. 41
Background knowledge	p. 47
Unity and cohesion	p. 50
Artistic intention	p. 53
The aesthetic characterization of nature	p. 57
Conclusion	p. 58
Critical Aesthetic Realism	p. 60
Introduction	p. 60
Cognitivism	p. 61
Non-cognitivism	p. 70
Aesthetic naturalism	p. 78
Critical aesthetic realism	p. 80
Conclusion	p. 84
Beauty and Truth	p. 86
Introduction	p. 86
Senses of "realism" in art history	p. 87
"Realism" according to theories of pictorial realism	p. 90
Aesthetic realism	p. 98
The grounds of aesthetic truth	p. 103
Conclusion	p. 108
Natural Generativity and Systematicity	p. 110
Introduction	p. 110
Background themes: mind and brain	p. 111
The aesthetic and the artistic: motivating the distinction	p. 118
A hierarchy of constraints	p. 120
Aesthetic form, aesthetic ideas and universality	p. 123
The imagination and the perceptual object	p. 129
Consciousness as structure	p. 132
Conclusion	p. 133
The Ubiquity of Beauty	p. 134
Introduction	p. 134
Re-entrant signaling, phenomenal properties and physicalism	p. 137
The aesthetic characterization and re-entrant signaling	p. 141
Aesthetic ideas and re-entrant signaling	p. 142
Aesthetic concepts and supervenience	p. 145
Aesthetic properties, style and the historical artifact	p. 148
Conclusion	p. 160
Ugliness	p. 162
Introduction: the opposite to beauty	p. 162
The structure of ugliness	p. 164
Aesthetic properties and ugliness	p. 166
Ugliness and displeasure	p. 167
Horror and pleasure	p. 167
Ugliness in art	p. 169
Disinterested displeasure	p. 171
Ugliness as beauty's antithesis	p. 173
The sublime	p. 174
Conclusion	p. 176
Conclusion: An Ontology of Art	p. 177
Introduction	p. 177
Critical aesthetic realism and ontology of art	p. 180
Critical aesthetic realism and artistic intention	p. 182
Critical aesthetic realism and theories of art	p. 187
Critical aesthetic realism and normativity	p. 194
The critical aesthetic realist manifesto	p. 195
Conclusion	p. 197
Notes	p. 200
Bibliography	p. 214
Index	p. 223
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