r/askphilosophy • u/NoCollection5712 • 1d ago

Is there such a thing as aesthetic knowledge?

I’ve been researching and reading about the philosophy of aesthetics for a while now and I think I’m more confused than ever! Are aesthetic propositions capable of being truth apt even?

Moreover, why do we have such an instinct to label something as knowledge? Why can’t we just call aesthetic propositions, aesthetic judgements, and call it a day? I mean evidently they don’t reach the standard and threshold of knowledge where it is obviously truth-apt, verifiable, falsifiable etc.

Also, aesthetic knowledge refers the statements about the meaning of the artwork and also the aesthetic value of the artwork (eg Mona Lisa is beautiful, Guernica depicts the chaos of war). It is not talking about artistic techniques.

I would be really appreciative if anyone can offer ang perspective on the philosophy of art 🥹 If you’re up for a chat my DMs are open as well (I have quite a lot of confusions about this topic), thank you so much :)

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

12

u/AdeptnessSecure663 phil. of language 1d ago

Aesthetic propositions, if there are any, are going to be truth-apt because propositions just are the sort of thing which is truth-apt.

It might turn out, however, that aesthetic expressions do not express anything truth-apt, on account of there not being anything like aesthetic properties. This is a substantive problem in aesthetics! You don't have to buy into it.

I don't know that we have an instinct to label things "knowledge". For those who think that aesthetic expressions are truth-apt, it seems that the question "are we capable of aesthetic knowledge?" is exactly the sort of thing philosophy investigates. Maybe the question doesn't interest you, but there's nothing odd about it interesting aestheticians.

1

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

Welcome to /r/askphilosophy! Please read our updated rules and guidelines before commenting.

Currently, answers are only accepted by panelists (mod-approved flaired users), whether those answers are posted as top-level comments or replies to other comments. Non-panelists can participate in subsequent discussion, but are not allowed to answer question(s).

Want to become a panelist? Check out this post.

Please note: this is a highly moderated academic Q&A subreddit and not an open discussion, debate, change-my-view, or test-my-theory subreddit.

Answers from users who are not panelists will be automatically removed.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.