TY - JOUR
T1 - A critique of the value interaction debate
AU - McGregor, Rafe
PY - 2014/10/1
Y1 - 2014/10/1
N2 - The purpose of this article is to show that the value interaction debate is deeply flawed and constitutes a superficial analysis of the relationship between morality and art. I introduce the debate, which concerns whether a moral defect in a work of art is (also) an aesthetic defect, in Section 1. Section 2 establishes the vagueness of two key terms in the discussion, moral defects and aesthetic defects. In Section 3, I introduce the naive assumption-uninteresting claim disjunction, identifying five of the six approaches as demonstrating a fundamental naivety about the relationship between morality and narrative art. I show, in Section 4, that four of the six are philosophically uninteresting as they offer an incomplete - and ultimately unsatisfactory - explanation of this relationship. In Section 5, I discuss the quantity and quality of examples employed in the debate, many of which are non-canonical, and some of which are entirely inappropriate. I conclude by recommending a reorientation of the debate to focus on the underlying question of whether the characteristically artistic value is finally or instrumentally valuable.
AB - The purpose of this article is to show that the value interaction debate is deeply flawed and constitutes a superficial analysis of the relationship between morality and art. I introduce the debate, which concerns whether a moral defect in a work of art is (also) an aesthetic defect, in Section 1. Section 2 establishes the vagueness of two key terms in the discussion, moral defects and aesthetic defects. In Section 3, I introduce the naive assumption-uninteresting claim disjunction, identifying five of the six approaches as demonstrating a fundamental naivety about the relationship between morality and narrative art. I show, in Section 4, that four of the six are philosophically uninteresting as they offer an incomplete - and ultimately unsatisfactory - explanation of this relationship. In Section 5, I discuss the quantity and quality of examples employed in the debate, many of which are non-canonical, and some of which are entirely inappropriate. I conclude by recommending a reorientation of the debate to focus on the underlying question of whether the characteristically artistic value is finally or instrumentally valuable.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84923217794&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/aesthj/ayt052
DO - 10.1093/aesthj/ayt052
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84923217794
SN - 0007-0904
VL - 54
SP - 449
EP - 466
JO - British Journal of Aesthetics
JF - British Journal of Aesthetics
IS - 4
ER -