On Nov 16, 2008, at 2:06 PM, Chris Miller wrote: ( partially)
I don't think an aesthetic experience is different from any other
except to
the degree that we enjoy and get involved with it.
We can never know everything about what we or anyone else has
experienced --
but still we can be objective about certain, specific mis-
apprehensions.
A person who has seen "Hamlet" and doesn't realize that the uncle
has murdered
the father has missed something very important about the play.
(whether that
person believes in ghosts or not)
Just so -- a person who is mostly impressed by the virtuosity of a
musical
performance has not been strongly affected by the music -- at least
at the
moment that recollection is occurring (which is, BTW, my usual
response to
"free jazz" -- all that impresses me is the instrumental virtuosity)
Virtuosity is mostly irrelevant in the visual arts -- but it's a
very big deal
in the world of classical music because there is so much intense
competition
among so many people to perform so few pieces. Virtuosity is what
sets them
apart -- and it's also what most people in the audience are going
to notice.
I've gotten to know a husband-wife team of classical musicians over
the past
few years -- where the husband stands out as an incredible virtuoso
on his
instrument. He does things very few other people can do -- and as
a result he
gives master classes and performances continuously all over the world.
But in my humble opinion -- his wife delivers a much more emotional
performance -- and that's what I buy concert tickets to hear -
with someone
like him as the perfect accompanist.
It's like the difference between a world-class gymnast at the
Olympics - and a
ballerina -- which is a real difference -- even if most people
prefer to watch
the gymnasts.
(and yes -- there is some music that seems to have been written
just to show
off virtuosity -- but nobody puts Paganini at the same level as
Beethoven --
do they ?)
There *are* wrong reasons for liking things -- and that is the
basis of an
education in aesthetics - an education that seems to be completely
outside the
scope of the Humanities as we now know them.
******************
But the bigger issue is related to whether or not we can judge
anyone's
aesthetic subjectivity. I think not. How is Chris, or anyone, to
know what
my aesthetic experience is? How can anyone say that another's
aesthetic
experience is wrong, or limited, or missing? This the the fundamental
question we ask about aesthetic experience. Can it be objectively
prescribed
or measured? Can we experience art for the wrong reasons? Are there
proscriptively wrong reasons? I say no. No. No. And No. That's
why I quoted
Gombrich a while back, his saying that there are no wrong reasons
for liking
an artwork. This does not exclude potential amplifications of liking.
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