----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Art, aesthetic experiences, and a long pass
I'm glad to hear it, Mike. Would you care to elaborate on that "unique
structure"?
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An aesthetic experience is not defined by the evocative content:. sublime,
dramatic, tender or red. An aesthetic experience is not defined by the
subject: portraits, film or dance.
An aesthetic experience is an experience taken as an end in itself. It is
experience qua experience. Whenever we are asked to answer the question,
"What is it like to have this experience?" our response is an aesthetic
experience. The frame around a painting is a sign whose referent is that
very question, "What is it like to have this experience?". We can ask
ourselves this question. When we are notice a sunset and stop, simply to
allow ourselves to experience the sensations we ask ourselves, "What is it
like to have this experience?".
Insofar as the question, "What is it like to be a bat?" is supposed to
determine batness. The question at the heart of the aesthetic experience
leads us into humanness.
Mike Mallory
