Aesthetic Life and Why It Matters
Dominic McIver Lopes, Bence Nánay, Nick Riggle
Abstract
Abstract Following an introduction that sketches an inclusive conception of the domain of the aesthetic, that sets out the task of the book to explain how aesthetic engagement can contribute to well-being or living meaningfully, and that uses a variant on Nozick’s Experience Machine thought experiment to question whether the task can be performed by identifying the aesthetic value with hedonic value, three proposals are offered. Aesthetic engagement is a site for achievement. It cultivates individuality within a context of community. It satisfies a hunger for exploring benign value differences. A closing dialogue among the three authors makes explicit the implications of their proposals for our understanding of disagreement, subjectivism, ethnocentrism, fads and fashions, and the ideological function of aesthetic life.