Abstract

Monroe Beardsley presents an aesthetic definition of art in “An Aesthetic Definition of Art”, in which he claims that there is a necessary connection between art and aesthetics. Beardsley proposes that a work of art is something made with the intention of having the capacity to satisfy an aesthetic interest. Noël Carroll claims that there are artworks created without aesthetic intentions and that some artworks do not have the capacity to provide aesthetic experiences. In addition, Carroll argues that there are artworks whose status of art is prior to the appreciation of these works as art. The aim of this paper is to present Beardsley’s aesthetic definition of art and analyze how objections to it can be answered.