Thought experiments in aesthetics
Document Type
Book chapter
Source Publication
A Companion to Applied Philosophy
Edition
1st ed.
Publication Date
10-2016
First Page
501
Last Page
513
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Keywords
thought experiments, aesthetics, Pierre Menard, Borges, Goodman, Savile, Walton, imagination, artworks
Abstract
In the burgeoning literature on thought experiments, examples are drawn from almost all areas of philosophy, one exception, however, being aesthetics. There are good reasons why this is so: there are very few interesting theory-oriented thought experiments in aesthetics, which is unsurprising since there are few well-developed theories to test in this field. After evaluating some aesthetic thought experiments in light of some general epistemic questions regarding thought experiments, we argue that theory-centred thought experiments are not the only kinds of thought experiments, and that the practical and productive thought experiments that are prevalent in aesthetics are also worthy of some attention.
DOI
10.1002/9781118869109.ch35
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Additional Information
ISBN of the source publication: 9781118869130
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Livingston, P. & Pettersson, M. (2016). Thought experiments in aesthetics. In K. Lippert-Rasmussen, K. Brownlee & D. Coady (Eds.), A Companion to Applied Philosophy (501-513). doi: 10.1002/9781118869109.ch35