beauty changes everything
When we first see the elephant man without his burlap mask in David Lynch's 1980 film, our first impression is that he is ugly. We then come to understand throughout the movie that he is a beautiful person. This extreme example represents the confusion in which we often find ourselves between morality and beauty. People … Continue reading Beauty and Morality
Aesthetic experiences are powerful. They can help us remember particular moments by creating a sensual account in our memory. But they can also help us when we are describing an amazing experience, situation, or object to someone else. Basically, the aesthetic aspects we encounter enhance whatever else we may be experiencing. Sometimes it is the … Continue reading Negative Aesthetic Concepts
I remember hearing that Dostoevsky, in his book The Idiot, has a character utter the expression, "Beauty will save the world." I immediately liked this expression, if for no other reason than hoping it might be true. Years later, I finally got around to read The Idiot. I kept waiting with anticipation for the famous line … Continue reading Can Beauty Save the World?
I have long-believed that aesthetics should be part of our everyday lives, and then philosophers started publishing books and articles about this idea I took for granted. However, I see that the literature in aesthetics did not always warrant such a conclusion, especially with an overwhelming focus on the arts. The "Everyday Aesthetics" movement in … Continue reading Quotidian Aesthetics: The Design Paradigm
THE EXPERIENCE OF BEAUTY IN THE MIDDLE AGES. By Mary Carruthers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Pp. xii+233. ISBN: 9780199590322. Most ideas from the Middle Ages are entangled in their views of theology and morality, at least that is how we often perceive it. We approach medieval ideas with the belief that theology was … Continue reading Review of The Experience of Beauty in the Middle Ages
It has become increasingly common to use the word 'aesthetics' when really talking about art. While it is true that many works of art are beautiful or have other aesthetic properties, most people claim to deny that aesthetics is a necessary component of art. One just has to think about Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917); he claimed … Continue reading Aesthetics Versus Philosophy of Art
An aesthetic judgment, according to John Dobson, consists of five elements: disinterest, subjectivity, inclusivity, contemplativity, and internality. In his article "Aesthetics as a Foundation for Business Activity" (2007, Journal of Business Ethics), Dobson explains how businesses today need to consider aesthetics in their business practices. People (i.e., consumers) are no longer satisfied with the simple logical, … Continue reading The Aesthetics of Business
Here is my review of Anna Schuleit Haber's exhibit Scientific Purposes (In which a murderous hairdresser donates his head to science, with one restriction) in Boston (March 2 - April 15, 2018). This is part one of a series for Big, Red & Shiny. For these essays, I review a show through the lens of a particular … Continue reading Review of Scientific Purposes
Robert Wellington has written a brief defense of the value of beauty in art. He explains: "Let me be clear. I am not saying that works of art ought to be beautiful. What I want to defend is our felt experience of beauty as way of knowing and navigating the world around us." He takes us … Continue reading Beauty and Art
Here is my review of Greg Lookerse's exhibit Evocations at AREA Gallery in Boston (January 26 - March 9, 2018). This is part one of a series for Big, Red & Shiny. For these essays, I will review a show through the lens of a particular philosopher's theory of art. I look at this show through … Continue reading Review of Evocations