Welcome to the re-born Aesthetics-L, Alan! Perhaps you're a jazz fan? Well - I am -- and I agree -- it's a very big church -- or, more like, a variety of churches, mosques, temples, and even sacred rocks. (some I seek - some I avoid)
As you have already discovered - a discussion with Derek has to be a brief one. Aesthetics doesn't interest him and art is a strictly binary variable (something is -- or it isn't -- no further explanation necessary or required) But it's interesting that you have proposed that "having an opinion is not the basis for dismissing a musical or aesthetic practice." -- because now we need to know just what you consider an aesthetic practice -- and what a proper basis for dismissing it might be. There's a lot of aesthetic practices that I dismiss -- or -- maybe I'd just call them practices that I dismiss because I find them un-aesthetic. In music, there's gangsta-rap and free-form jazz --- in art, there's ABX and newspaper cartoons --- in literature, there's science fiction. -- in film, there's just about everything for the mainstream American multiplex. Not that I think any principle of aesthetics is especially involved -- so I allow for the possibility of counter-examples --- but overall, it's going to take the recommendation of a person I really respect to get me to give items from these genre's a moment's notice. If pressed, I could attempt to justify all these dismissals with an explanation -- perhaps applying words like maturity, morality, profundity, spirituality etc -- but in the end -- I wouldn't call my judgment anything other than an opinion. (BTW - I've never read Adorno, so his dismissal of Jazz is new to me. As you've stated it -- it seems to involve its improvisatory nature -- and maybe I'd agree to the extent that the more a piece is improvised, the less compelling I usually find it) _____________________________________________________________ Do it right the first time. Click to find contractors to work on your home improvement project. http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2211/fc/Ioyw6ijmcn1E78ebDA7gRV9vGso18m yMsc337YGvg3tv1bD2CGaNYQ/
