A critical rationalist aesthetics

202 Pages·2008·1.711 MB·English

by  Agassi, Joseph;Jarvie, Ian Charles

SERIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY
OF KARL R. POPPER AND CRITICAL
RATIONALISM
SCHRIFTENREIHE ZUR PHILOSOPHIE
KARL R. POPPERS UND DES KRITISCHEN
RATIONALISMUS
Edited by Kurt Salamun

VOLUME XVIII

A CRITICAL RATIONALIST
AESTHETICS
Joseph Agassi
and
Ian Jarvie
Amsterdam - New York, NY 2008
Coverphoto: Photo Murauer, Innsbruck
The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of
‘ISO 9706: 1994, Information and documentation - Paper for documents -
Requirements for permanence’.
ISBN: 978-90-420-2367-3
Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - New York, NY 2008
Printed in The Netherlands
Dedicated to the memory of
Sir Karl R. Popper
and
Sir Ernst H. Gombrich

CONTENTS
Preface ix
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
a) Art as Luxury 1
b) Critical Rationalism 2
c) Aesthetics 3
d) Gombrich and Essentialism 11
Chapter 2: The Arts in Our World 15
a) Two Points from Howard S. Becker 15
b) The Leading Social Theories of Art 20
c) Artist, Genius, and Public 25
d) The Diversity of Publics 31
e) The avant-garde 33
f) High Art (cid:122) Good Art 37
g) High Art Without Condescension 39
h) An Egalitarian Conception of High Art 41
i) Philosophers and Low Art 48
j) Low Art in Context 51
k) Humour 55
l) Mass Culture 58
m) Middlebrow Art and Its Virtues 60
Chapter 3: Marxist Aesthetics, or, the Politics and Morals of Art 65
a) Marxist Aesthetics 66
b) Realism: Socialist and Romantic 68
c) Socialist Realism 73
d) A Digression on Marxism as Theory and as Practice (Tradition) 76
e) Marxism Superseded 78
f) Reactionary Art 80
Chapter 4: Aesthetics and Its Relation to Other Fields 85
a) Upbuilding Aesthetics 85
b) Aesthetics, Metaphysics, Psychology 89
c) Anti-Aesthetics: Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder 92
c) Metaphysics and Value 97
d) Nature and Convention 101
e) Metaphysics and Language 103
Chapter 5: Reason, Truth, Metaphysics 107
a) Feyerabend: Unreason Rationalised 107
b) The Light-Footed Attitude 110
c) Education and Art 113
d) What is Truth in Art? 118
e) Love and Friendship in Context 122
f) Art as Luxury and as Necessity 125
g) Truth in Art 128
Chapter 6: The Varieties of Aesthetic Experience 133
a) The Contexts of Art 133
b) The Place of Aesthetic Experience 134
c) The avant-garde Revisited 140
d) Narrative 141
e) The Message 143
Chapter 7: The Rational Unity of Art, Aesthetics,
and Art Appreciation 147
a) The Rationality of Some Art Appreciation 148
b) Criticism versus Flattery 152
c) What Makes an Influence Rational? 159
d) The Story of Art 162
e) Concluding Remarks 165
Bibliography and Index of Works cited, 167
Index of Artworks 176
Index of Names 179
Index of Subjects 185
PREFACE
Since their time together at the University of Hong Kong (1962-1963),
the authors have been discussing issues in aesthetics and the philosophy of the
arts, especially their place in scientific philosophy, the role of reason, and the
aesthetic status of popular culture including movies. Agassi’s first draft of this
book was complete more than ten years ago. All the subsequent drafts have been
joint work passed back and forth courtesy of the wonders of the internet.
We shall outline the novel elements of this book in the Introduction. Here
let us mention our use of examples. The usual effect of varied examples is to
intimidate, especially if a heterogeneous set is used, from different art forms,
from different historical times, and from both high and low culture. No reader
can be reasonably expected to be familiar with all of the examples an author
presents. A few words of reassurance from us can scarcely be expected to
mitigate this effect. Let us stress, by way of apology, that we do not expect the
reader to be familiar with all of the examples mentioned. Our aim was to choose
familiar examples. Where we fell short we can at least say that we hope our
examples will be their own reward. If what we say is interesting, then the
unfamiliar should whet the appetite.
Winter 2007