Moderate formalism is the view that all artworks which have aesthetic properties have formal aesthetic properties, and some but not all of those works also have non-formal aesthetic properties. Nick Zangwill develops this view in his Metaphysics of Beauty after having argued against its alternatives – extreme formalism and anti-formalism. This article reviews his arguments against the rivals of moderate formalism, and argues that the rejection of anti-formalism is unjustified. Zangwill does not succeed in proving that the broadly determined (context-determined) properties of artworks are in some cases irrelevant to their aesthetic properties – and following that, interpretation and assessment. A historical argument presented here shows how aesthetic properties of every work must partly supervene on this work’s contextual properties. In particular, this disproves Zangwill’s claim that epistemological matters are unessential in determining the artwork’s properties, and exposes some problems his account has with explaining relations between nonaesthetic and aesthetic properties.
The paper aims to explore the model which is trying to explain the nature of aesthetic properties. The starting point for testing a plausibility of aspectualistic solution is a kind of exploration. Aspectualism plays a role between realistic and anti-realistic answer to the question: what are the aesthetic judgments related to? Standard discussions are linked in two directions. The first one presupposes existence of real aesthetic properties or qualities in artworks, thus independent of the human mind. The second, on the contrary, explains our aesthetic judgments as related to aesthetic properties (values) that are constructed in relationship of artwork and recipient, thus dependent on human mind. Both positions have strengths and weaknesses with respect to the different artistic genres and approaches. Aspectualistic strategy offers an explanation which has an ambition to be the solution to this dispute. The paper analyses this position in the work of Roger Scruton and looks for the answer to the question whether this solution is sufficient and where are its limits, if any.
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