Abstract

This dissertation deals with three related problems in the field of aesthetics and how they are treated in the work of Monroe C. Beardsley. The first problem is that of relevance; which considerations are relevant to determining the aesthetic value of a work? Beardsley uses his Instrumental Theory of Value to draw the boundaries of aesthetic relevance. The value of a work lies in its capacity to cause aesthetic experience. Thus any feature of the work which can increase or decrease this capacity is aesthetically relevant. While maintaining this basic insight, I argue against Beardsley that unity, complexity and intensity are not the only features which cause aesthetic experience. And the class of properties that contribute to the emergence of these positive aesthetic properties is broader than Beardsley claims. ;A second problem concerns the application of aesthetic terms; what is the relation between nonaesthetic and aesthetic properties and can we give general reasons to support descriptive aesthetic attributions? Beardsley's view is that aesthetic properties emerge from nonaesthetic properties. I argue, however, that his specific account of emergence cannot be sustained , and as a result Beardsley may be espousing a theory of aesthetic naturalism. ;A third problem also concerns generality, but with respect to aesthetic evaluation: what is the relation between justification of an ascription of aesthetic value and general aesthetic principles? In connection to this I discuss the views of William Dray and Mary Mothersill, who claim that historic or aesthetic principles are unnecessary for explanation. Unfortunately, both Dray and Mothersill postulate a disanalogy between historical explanation and aesthetic justification on the one hand, and scientific explanation on the other, a disanalogy which is illfounded. Their singularist models of explanation are unsuccessful and cannot be extended to the field of aesthetics. ;Finally, I suggest a direction one might pursue to construct a coherent singularist theory of aesthetics. This view relies on Donald Davidson's model of anomalous monism and attempts to extend his analysis of the relation between the physical and the psychological to the relation between the nonaesthetic and the aesthetic