Nelson Goodman’s Aesthetics—A Critique

Arts

Krzysztof Guczalski¹ 

[1] Department of Aesthetics, Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, 31-044 Kraków, Poland;

关键词: Nelson Goodman;    aesthetics;    Languages of Art;    duality of emotion and cognition;    symbol system;    density;   

DOI  :  10.3390/arts10040084

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Nelson Goodman (1906–1998) is one of the leading American philosophers of the twentieth century. His well-known book Languages of Art is considered a major contribution to analytical aesthetics. While his views on particular issues have often been criticized, on the whole, he is considered to be a leading figure in twentieth-century aesthetics. Contrary to such a stance, I intend to argue that Goodman’s overall contribution to aesthetics is not as outstanding and valuable as is often maintained. Rather, I will try to show that his aesthetic views are grounded on a distorted representation of the earlier aesthetic tradition, without which they lose the novelty and originality ascribed to them. Once that representation is corrected, some of Goodman’s proposals turn out to be derivative and redundant. Additionally, where they do actually diverge from the earlier tradition and might stake a claim to originality, they turn out to be simply erroneous and misconceived, and sometimes even logically flawed. To conclude, Goodman’s lofty reputation as an aesthetician certainly requires major revision.

【 授权许可】

Unknown