The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4870026 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Becca Rothfeld (Harvard University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 653-670 |
| Publication date | 2022-12-31 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal of Aesthetics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0904 • E-ISSN: 1468-2842 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/aesthj/ayab059 |
| OpenAlex | W4255055288 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 15 |
In recent years, a number of philosophers have suggested that the aesthetic value sometimes depends on moral value. In this paper, I motivate and defend the inverse position: the view that aesthetic value sometimes partially grounds moral value. I appeal to Grand Budapest Hotel and The Lovely Bones to show that maudlin treatments of morally serious subject matter are sometimes disrespectful, in part because they are maudlin; I appeal to Madame Bovary to show that lyrical treatments of morally serious subject matter are compassionate, in part because they are lyrical. I go on to clarify that aesthetic value and descriptive facts about the subject matter of an artwork jointly ground its moral value, and I conclude by considering and rejecting a number of potential objections to the aestheticist thesis
Aesthetic value · Aesthetics · Appeal · Epistemology · Ethical theories · Political science · Sociology · Subject (documents · Subject matter · Value (mathematics · Value theory · Aesthetic Perception and Analysis · Computer Science · Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |