Ethical Autonomism. The Work of Art as a Moral Agent

Contemporary Aesthetics 2 (2004)
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Abstract

Much contemporary art seems morally out of control. Yet, philosophers seem to have trouble finding the right way to morally evaluate works of art. The debate between autonomists and moralists, I argue, has turned into a stalemate due to two mistaken assumptions. Against these assumptions, I argue that the moral nature of a work's contents does not transfer to the work and that, if we are to morally evaluate works we should try to conceive of them as moral agents. Ethical autonomism holds that art's autonomy consists in its demand that art appreciators take up an artistic attitude. A work's agency then is in how it merits their audiences' attitudinal switch. Ethical autonomism allows for the moral assessment of art works without giving up their autonomy, by viewing artistic merit as a moral category and art-relevant moral evaluation as having the form of art criticism

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Rob Van Gerwen
Utrecht University

Citations of this work

Inertie hoort bij Kunst als de Dood bij het Leven.Rob van Gerwen - 2008 - In Kabinet: Inertie & Kunst (even pages Russian translation). St. Petersburgh: pp. 238-263.

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