The merited response argument and artistic categories

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

Publication Date

8-1-2013

Volume

71

Issue

3

First Page

239

Last Page

246

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.

Abstract

The merited response argument is an argument in favor of artistic ethicism. According to this view, the interaction between art and morality is such that a moral defect in a work of art negatively influences the work's artistic value (and a moral merit, when relevant, is always an artistic merit). I contend that the argument relies on a criterion of aesthetic and artistic relevance that, when properly understood, fails to constitute a premise that either the artistic contextualist or the autonomist would accept. I then offer a version of the merited response argument that supports artistic contextualism and argue that, given certain controversial assumptions, immoral art in the Western tradition is more common than typically acknowledged in the recent literature on the topic.

DOI

10.1111/jaac.12017

Print ISSN

00218529

E-ISSN

15406245

Publisher Statement

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Sauchelli, A. (2013). The merited response argument and artistic categories. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 71(3), 239-246. doi: 10.1111/jaac.12017

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