Abstract

The cognitive theory of emotion (also called the rational?emotive theory) clarifies the notion of aesthetic emotion and evaluation, and when combined with Dewey's humanism and a naturalistic theory of valuation provides a basis for a holistic theory of aesthetics. From the holistic perspective, no act is moral unless it is also aesthetic. On this view, the aesthetic is no longer reduced to atomistic or quantitative perspectives, but becomes a part of our total purposive life experience. It expresses itself in gentleness and joie de vivre