Philosophy Looks at the Arts
ed. Joseph Margolis
(Third Edition, 1987)
[80]
Piece: Contra Aesthetics
TIMOTHY BINKLEY
[orig. 1977]
I. What Is This Piece?
|
1.
The term "aesthetics" has a general meaning in which it refers to the philosophy of art. In this sense, any theoretical writing about art falls within the realm of aesthetics. |
There is also a more specific and more important sense of the term in which it refers to a particular type of theoretical inquiry which emerged in the eighteenth century when the "Faculty of Taste" was invented.
In this latter sense, "aesthetics" is the study of a specific human activity involving the perception of aesthetic qualities such as beauty, repose, expressiveness, unity, liveliness. |
I think I prefer the first
sense
to the second, even though it often appears semantically imprecise or even outright deceptive.
Later in the Anthology we encounter some powerful arguments against conflating "aesthetics" with "philosophy of art"!
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Although frequently purporting to be a (or even the) philosophy of art
, |
aesthetics so understood is not exclusively about art
: |
This is exactly what I don't like about the second sense.
