So what's aesthetics?

Aesthetics is the philosophy of art. It's a discipline that tries to answer questions like:

What is art?

What makes art different from non-art?

What sort of values are aesthetic values?

Are aesthetic values completely relative? Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

What's the relation of art to beauty? To meaning? To shock value? To religion? To . . .

Why have a philosophy of art? Do you need it to...

Make better art? Probably not (but your philosophy of art will probably influence the kind of art you make)

Understand and appreciate art? Probably not (but studying aesthetics may help you appreciate art)

Evaluate art? Yes, in a way; because art criticism usually assumes a philosophy of art. What you say about art woks may be better, and more useful to others, if you know what your philosophy is and why you prefer it to the alternatives. Aesthetics is also the philosophy of art criticism.

Perhaps it is best to see the philosophy of art as an essential part of a culture's practice and appreciation of art. It is one of the ways in which a culture becomes aware of what it believes and assumes about art. The stories a culture tells about its art are the context in which its art has meaning. No stories, no art. That doesn't make the stories more important than the art! But as soon as there was art there would be a story about it, too. So inventing, revising and understanding the stories are activities essential to art making. And that's what Aesthetics helps to do.

Included in this site are thumbnail sketches of stories about the arts told by many of the philosophers (and artists and critics and others) who have had an influence on the way we do, see and think about the arts today. Check them out!

Philosophers, Critics & Artists on Art

Link to Philosophers of Art