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ART AND KNOWLEDGE
Almost all of us would agree that the experience of art is deeply rewarding.
However, why this is the case remains a puzzle: why do many of us find works
of art much more important than other sources of pleasure?
Art and Knowledge
argues that the experience of art is so rewarding because it can be an important
source of knowledge about ourselves and our relation to each other and to the
world.
The view that art is a source of knowledge can be traced as far back as
Aristotle and Horace. Artists as various as Tasso, Sidney, Pope, Shelley, Dylan
Thomas, Reynolds, Constable, Trollope, Henry James and Mendelssohn have
believed that art contributes to knowledge. As attractive as this view may be, it
has never been satisfactorily defended, either by artists or by philosophers.
Art
and Knowledge
reflects on the essence of art and argues that it ought to provide
insight as well as pleasure. It argues that all the arts, including music, are
importantly representational. This kind of representation is fundamentally
different from that found in the sciences, but it can provide insights as important
and profound as any available from the sciences. While science tries to exclude
emotion, the emotional responses generated by artworks give them their cognitive
value. Once we recognise that works of art can contribute to knowledge we can
avoid thorough relativism about aesthetic value and we can be in a position to
evaluate the avant-garde art of the past century.
Art and Knowledge
is an exceptionally clear and interesting, as well as
controversial, exploration of what art is and why it is valuable. It will be of
interest to all philosophers of art, artists and art critics.
James O. Young
is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Victoria. He is
the author of
Global Anti-realism
(1995).
ART AND KNOWLEDGE
James O. Young
London and New York
First published 2001
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
© 2001 James O. Young
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Young, James O., 1957-
Art & Knowledge / James O. Young.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Aesthetics. 2. Arts–Philosophy. 3. Knowledge, Theory of 4. Avant-garde
(Aesthetics) I. Title: Art and knowledge. II. Title.
BH39 .Y68 2001
2001019640
111
'
.85–dc21
ISBN 0-203-42779-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-44763-8 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-25646-1 hbk
ISBN 0-415-25647-X pbk

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