Theory, Observation, and the Role of Scientific Understanding in the Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn Parsons
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Understanding ◽  
Aesthetic Appreciation ◽  
Recent Discussion ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Theory Ladenness ◽  
Aesthetics Of Nature

Much recent discussion in the aesthetics of nature has focused on Scientific cognitivism, the view that in order to engage in a deep and appropriate aesthetic appreciation of nature, one must possess certain kinds of scientific knowledge. The most pressing difficulty faced by this view is an apparent tension between the very notion of aesthetic appreciation and the nature of scientific knowledge. In this essay, I describe this difficulty, trace some of its roots and argue that attempts to dismiss it fail. I then develop a response to the problem, drawing on the notion of the theory-ladenness of observation. I conclude by considering the relationship between this response and one common approach to the problem, the appeal to expressive qualities in nature.

Idleness and Freedom in Michel de Montaigne’s “Essays”

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-202
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Ancient Rome ◽  
Spiritual Quest ◽  
Guiding Principle ◽  
Sextus Empiricus ◽  
History Of ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Relationship

The article advances a hypothesis about the composition of Michel de Montaigne’s Essays. Specialists in the intellectual history of the Renaissance have long considered the relationship among Montaigne’s thematically heterogeneous thoughts, which unfold unpredictably and often seen to contradict each other. The waywardness of those reflections over the years was a way for Montaigne to construct a self-portrait. Spontaneity of thought is the essence of the person depicted and an experimental literary technique that was unprecedented in its time and has still not been surpassed. Montaigne often writes about freedom of reflection and regards it as an extremely important topic. There have been many attempts to interpret the haphazardness of the Essays as the guiding principle in their composition. According to one such interpretation, the spontaneous digressions and readiness to take up very different philosophical notions is a form of of varietas and distinguo, which Montaigne understood in the context of Renaissance philosophy. Another interpretation argues that the Essays employ the rhetorical techniques of Renaissance legal commentary. A third opinion regards the Essays as an example of sprezzatura, a calculated negligence that calls attention to the aesthetic character of Montaigne’s writing. The author of the article argues for a different interpretation that is based on the concept of idleness to which Montaigne assigned great significance. He had a keen appreciation of the role of otium in the culture of ancient Rome and regarded leisure as an inner spiritual quest for self-knowledge. According to Montaigne, idleness permits self-directedness, and it is an ideal form in which to practice the freedom of thought that brings about consistency in writing, living and reality, in all of which Montaigne finds one general property - complete inconstancy. Socratic self-knowledge, a skepticism derived from Pyrrho of Elis and Sextus Empiricus, and a rejection of the conventions of traditional rhetoric that was similar to Seneca’s critique of it were all brought to bear on the concept of idleness and made Montaigne’s intellectual and literary experimentation in the Essays possible.

Knowing by Doing: The Role of Geometrical Practice in Aristotle’s Theory of Knowledge

Elenchos ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Ugaglia
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Theory Of Knowledge ◽  
States Of Mind ◽  
General Process ◽  
The Real ◽  
Analogical Model ◽  
Primary Function ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

Abstract Aristotle’s way of conceiving the relationship between mathematics and other branches of scientific knowledge is completely different from the way a contemporary scientist conceives it. This is one of the causes of the fact that we look at the mathematical passages we find in Aristotle’s works with the wrong expectation. We expect to find more or less stringent proofs, while for the most part Aristotle employs mere analogies. Indeed, this is the primary function of mathematics when employed in a philosophical context: not a demonstrative tool, but a purely analogical model. In the case of the geometrical examples discussed in this paper, the diagrams are not conceived as part of a formalized proof, but as a work in progress. Aristotle is not interested in the final diagram but in the construction viewed in its process of development; namely in the figure a geometer draws, and gradually modifies, when he tries to solve a problem. The way in which the geometer makes use of the elements of his diagram, and the relation between these elements and his inner state of knowledge is the real feature which interests Aristotle. His goal is to use analogy in order to give the reader an idea of the states of mind involved in a more general process of knowing.

Revisiting the relationship between art and industry in nineteenth-century Britain from the manufacturer’s perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-52
Author(s):  
Ann Compton
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Drawing Board ◽  
Public Exposure ◽  
Production Practices ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Two Sectors

The mid-nineteenth century critical discourse compartmentalized art and industry by crediting each with specific powers. Manufacturing was identified with the development of technologically advanced processes, materials and products, while fine artists were given authority over the aesthetic aspects of industrial design. The idea that the two sectors had separate areas of responsibility has proved extremely enduring, and continues to influence our perceptions of Victorian manufacturing. This article contributes to the wider task of re-evaluating the relationship between art and industry in nineteenth-century Britain by examining the role of design in potteries and art metalworking firms from the manufacturer’s perspective. It shows that contrary to the picture painted by Victorian critics, design was central to the ambitions and commercial operations of manufacturing businesses. Crucially, decisions about the recruitment of design staff were shaped by the close connection between the creation of new products at the drawing board, and their fabrication in the workshop. Since each branch of manufacturing had its distinctive characteristics, there were significant practical, aesthetic and commercial advantages for manufacturers in employing experienced designers who knew the trade, and were fully conversant with production practices. Unless a professional sculptor joined a firm, they were unlikely to have this inside knowledge, which made commissioning one-off designs from artists a riskier proposition. Manufacturers found that one of the best ways to get around this was to make reductions of sculptures, and initial demand for statuettes in Parian suggested they would be profitable for all concerned. In the end, the market did not live up to its early promise, but the publicity given to Parian statuettes compensated manufacturers and sculptors. Overall, it was this increased public exposure for art manufactures that was the prime benefit of the mid-nineteenth century critical discourse for the industrial sector.

scholarly journals Anticipatory Defocusing of Attention and Contextual Response Priming but No Role of Aesthetic Appreciation in Simple Symmetry Judgments when Switching between Tasks

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 577
Author(s):  
Svantje T. Kähler ◽  
Thomas Jacobsen ◽  
Stina Klein ◽  
Mike Wendt
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Aesthetic Appreciation ◽  
Response Priming ◽  
Strong Response ◽  
Task Requirements ◽  
Anticipatory Adjustment ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Response Congruency

Visual attention can be adjusted to task requirements. We asked participants to switch between judging the symmetry of vertically presented three-letter strings and identifying the central stimulus (i.e., Eriksen task) to investigate anticipatory adjustment of attention. Our experiments provide evidence for anticipatory adjustment of visual attention, depending on the cued task (i.e., focusing and defocusing of attention after the Eriksen task cue and after the symmetry task cue, respectively). Although, symmetry judgments were, overall, considerably slower than the identification of the central letter, the effects of response congruency between tasks were comparable in the two tasks, which suggested strong response priming from concurrent symmetry judgment in Eriksen task trials. Symmetry judgment performance was best for homogeneous letter strings (e.g., HHH), worst for strings that were symmetrical and inhomogeneous (e.g., XHX), and intermediate for asymmetrical strings (e.g., HHX). The difficulty of categorizing symmetrical-inhomogeneous items markedly deviated from the aesthetic ratings of the stimuli, displaying a pronounced preference for symmetrical strings, but only little difference among the symmetrical items, and might be accounted by conflict with response priming based on inhomogeneity detection. Although our study provides little evidence for an effect of aesthetic appreciation in simple symmetry judgments, it demonstrates the strong role of contextual dependencies.

scholarly journals Perceptual Balance, Stability, and Aesthetic Appreciation: Their Relations Depend on the Picture Type

i-Perception ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 204166951985604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Hübner ◽  
Martin G. Fillinger
Keyword(s):  
Single Element ◽  
Aesthetic Appreciation ◽  
Positive Relation ◽  
Dynamic Pattern ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Gravitational Stability ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Picture Type ◽  
Balance Stability

It is widely assumed that the aesthetic appreciation of a picture depends, among others, on how well the picture’s composition is perceptually balanced, where “perceptual balance” is often defined analogous to mechanics. To what extent this metaphor holds for different picture types, however, is still open. Therefore, in this study, we examined the relationship between balance, liking, and some objective measures with pictures from an aesthetic sensitivity test. These stimuli could be divided into single-element, multiple-element, and dynamic-pattern pictures. The results show that “balance” is interpreted differently, depending on the stimulus type. Whereas “mechanical” balance was applied to assess single-element pictures, the balance of multiple-element and dynamic-pattern pictures was rated more in the sense of gravitational stability. Only for the multiple-element stimuli, there was a positive relation between balance/stability and liking. Together, our findings show that there are different types of balance, and that their relation with liking depends on the picture type.

The Interactions of Function and Aesthetic Value in Artifacts

2019 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Stecker
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Aesthetic Appreciation ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Primary Function ◽  
Aesthetic Properties ◽  
The Aesthetic

In this paper, I ask: what is the role of function in appreciating artifacts? I will argue that several distinguishable functions are relevant to the aesthetic appreciation of artifacts, and sometimes more than one of these must be taken into account to adequately appreciate these objects. Second, I will claim that, while we can identify something we might call functional aesthetic value or functional beauty, the aesthetic properties that contribute to this value neither need to enhance the object’s performance of its primary function nor manifest that function. There are broader criteria for what properties are relevant to functional beauty. Finally, I suggest that the aesthetic appreciation of artifacts may contribute to a larger appreciative project: the understanding and evaluation of a way of life, or social or cultural practices in which the artifact plays a role.

Nature, aesthetic appreciation of

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Aesthetic Experience ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Western World ◽  
Aesthetic Appreciation ◽  
Ideal Object ◽  
The Third ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
The Aesthetic

In the Western world, aesthetic appreciation of nature and its philosophical investigation came to fruition in the eighteenth century. During that time, aestheticians made nature the ideal object of aesthetic experience and analysed that experience in terms of disinterestedness, thereby laying the groundwork for understanding the appreciation of nature in terms of the sublime and the picturesque. This philosophical tradition reached its zenith with Kant, while popular aesthetic appreciation of nature continued primarily in terms of the picturesque. In the late twentieth century, renewed interest in the aesthetics of nature has produced various positions designed to avoid assimilating appreciation of nature with traditional models for aesthetic appreciation of art. Three are especially noteworthy. The first holds that the appreciation of nature is not in fact aesthetic; the second rejects the traditional analysis of aesthetic experience as disinterested, arguing instead that the aesthetic appreciation of nature involves engagement with nature; the third attempts to maintain the traditional analysis, while distinguishing aesthetic appreciation of nature by dependence on scientific knowledge. These positions have a number of ramifications. In freeing aesthetic appreciation of nature from artistic models, they pave the way for a general environmental aesthetics comparable to other areas of philosophy, such as environmental ethics. Moreover, the significance given to scientific knowledge in the third position both explains the aesthetic appreciation associated with environmentalism and provides aesthetic appreciation of nature with a degree of objectivity that may make aesthetic considerations more effectual in environmental assessment.

scholarly journals Weak material: light, time, location and the stuff of architecture

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Shank
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Theory ◽  
Architectural Elements ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Contemporary Architecture ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Role Of Light ◽  
Weak Material ◽  
Weak Ontology

In the 1987 essay Weak Architecture the Spanish architectural theorist Ignasi de Sola-Morales asked the question “what role is accorded to architecture in the aesthetic system of contemporary weak thought?”(de Sola-Morales, 1996 [1987], p. 57). Given the increasing contemporary influence of weak ontology (thought) within the discipline of philosophy and the resulting spill over into architectural theory, this thesis asks a similar question repositioned from the viewpoint of the designer: What impact does the philosophy of Weak Ontology have on the design of contemporary architecture? By questioning the objective relationship between person and architecture (the ontological and the ontic), the plurality and incompleteness of architectural experience must be addressed. The project uses the relationship of light and architecture to reevaluate three foundational architectural elements: its materiality, its linear existence in time, and its fixed location. The role of light within architecture becomes the focus not of the investigation itself, but a demonstration of the accumulative and pluralized influences that overlay the Euclidean underpinnings of architectural tectonics.

scholarly journals Weak material: light, time, location and the stuff of architecture

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Shank
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Theory ◽  
Architectural Elements ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Contemporary Architecture ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Role Of Light ◽  
Weak Material ◽  
Weak Ontology

In the 1987 essay Weak Architecture the Spanish architectural theorist Ignasi de Sola-Morales asked the question “what role is accorded to architecture in the aesthetic system of contemporary weak thought?”(de Sola-Morales, 1996 [1987], p. 57). Given the increasing contemporary influence of weak ontology (thought) within the discipline of philosophy and the resulting spill over into architectural theory, this thesis asks a similar question repositioned from the viewpoint of the designer: What impact does the philosophy of Weak Ontology have on the design of contemporary architecture? By questioning the objective relationship between person and architecture (the ontological and the ontic), the plurality and incompleteness of architectural experience must be addressed. The project uses the relationship of light and architecture to reevaluate three foundational architectural elements: its materiality, its linear existence in time, and its fixed location. The role of light within architecture becomes the focus not of the investigation itself, but a demonstration of the accumulative and pluralized influences that overlay the Euclidean underpinnings of architectural tectonics.

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