Good Art and Bad Art, What is the difference?

(Originally written February 6, 2007 in Book 12)

Quick rundown of the strange events in the past 10-12 days:

1) Tuition remission nightmare: I was supposed to meet with Wynn Lembright three times to keep on track. I kept on track without the meetings. Financial Aid wanted to boot me.

2) I missed the whole 1st week of classes because of 1).

3) K. T. invited us to live with her and the ids in VA for 1 year.

Options - George Mason, U. of Illinois Springfield (online), Wait a semester or two

By the way, J-Term is done and I got an "A" in Classical Rhetoric. I also have a new, profound distaste for it.

Philosophy 342: Aesthetics
Dr. James Speigel

"Good Art and Bad Art, What is the difference?"
James Spiegel

Beauty in the eye of the beholder mentality is aesthetic subjectivism. Aesthetic subjectivism parallels moral subjectivism. Both are value judgments as relative to the individual.

The Truth of Aesthetic Objectivism

It is absurd to believe that no piece of art is better than another as aesthetic subjectivism claims.

Aesthetic qualities must be public facts about the world, "not merely private preferences".

Aesthetic subjectivism cannot account for universal, time-testa appreciation for works of art.

Shared understanding of terms like 'beautiful', 'sublime', 'gaudy', 'refined', etc. demand aesthetic objectivism.

Objective Standards for Good Art

Two primary reasons for aesthetic subjectivism's popularity despite its problematic nature:
1) Conflicting aesthetic judgments amongst people
2) The assumption that there are no standards for good art

Response to 1 - "A plurality of views on an issue does not imply that truth in the context is entirely relative.

Response to 2 - Sometimes it is hard to find the truth.

Objective truth and knowledge presuppose objective standards.

Spiegel argues that there are numerous objective guidelines that ought to be used to evaluate art.

Some aesthetic standards are genre specific. There are rules and techniques within an art form.

The techniques define the standards of excellence in that specific genre.

Some aesthetic standards are non-genre specific
- Complexity
- Unity
- Integrity
- Originality
- And the balance of all these are aesthetic standards

"All excellent artworks are original in some way"

Excellent art work must be original to gain interest but not so unique as to have no reference points.

Great art work tends to be powerfully expressive.

Every art form is a mode of communication.

[Great works of art tend to be complex, unified, intense, original and expressive] There is also an appropriate fit between form and content (Richard Eldridge)

Objective Standards for Good Artistry

There are also standards that apply to artists as they do their aesthetic work. There are "aesthetic virtues"

Most of the aesthetic virtues are simply moral virtue applied in aesthetic undertakings.

Art is an emotionally rich mode of expression. Some aestheticians claim that expression of feelings is the primary purpose of art.

Some Aesthetic virtues: diligence, generosity, sacrifice compassion, veracity, wit, truthfulness, boldness and humility.

Experience is vital in creating great artwork. In order to portray an emotion one must have previously experienced it.

"Every art object has moral implications, however neutral it might appear to be"

Tolstoy claimed that a major function of art is to reinforce moral and religious perceptions of a society.