While William is lurking as he waits for Cheerskep to improve his behavior -- I'd like to give some more thought to differences between the discourses of art criticism/philosophy and the discourses of neuroscience.
First - by noting that discussions of neuroscience, just like discussions of art, include the category of journalism: the writers who address the general public in daily newspapers as well as monthly science magazines. I can't find popular magazines devoted specifically to neuroscience (as there are for astronomy or aeronautics) -- but it is a frequent subject in magazines that cover all the sciences -- especially with articles that deal with the popular subject of "creativity" But while "creativity" seems an appropriate topic for neuroscience, "judgment" does not -- while, as William notes, Art Theory is concerned with "establishing past and future validation" and "the goal of Art Criticism is judgment" Can neuroscience address issues of judgment ? Presumably, it could show which parts of the brain are involved -- but as soon as it asks which judgment is better than another, it has left its area of expertise. For example -- perhaps a study might show that damage to a certain area of the brain removes the ability to distinguish the art or aesthetic quality of a Jackson Pollock painting from that of a randomly selected house painter's drop cloth. But whether that distinction is relevant to the critical validation of art is a question that only art theory and criticism can address. So I'd like to suggest that neuroscience is no more relevant to art theory and criticism than it is to any of the other high-level mental activities that humans may pursue -- like chess, mathematics, handicapping horses, etc. Indeed it only serves as a distraction which points, as does the success of the "institutional theory", to the weakness of contemporary art theory and criticism. _____________________________________________________________ Click here to compare prices and features on point of sale systems. http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2211/fc/Ioyw6ijlQC1zGYi8ssWumZijX4tjWx rXHlHjjYfQ1UV9wx4A43lLco/?count=1234567890
