On 6/4/04 2:32 PM, "klaus krippendorff" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> i very much doubt that everyone is able to
> theorize his or her own sense of beauty, taste, and emotional response to
> things.
On Friday, June 04, 2004 9:51 PM Charles Burnette User
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] replied
Why is it necessary for anyone to theorize his or her own sense of beauty,
taste and emotional response to things. Isn't it enough to feel an aesthetic
response and perhaps to know what things or events are likely to stimulate
such responses. And to recognize such things or events when they occur?
dear chuck:
heaven's no! it is not at all necessary for anyone to theorize what he or
she feels in response to things. but if someone, you for example,
distinguishes between aesthetic responses and other responses, he or she
needs linguistic categories. the body simply feels. it doesn't know the
difference between aesthetic and non-aesthetic responses.
however, we, humans, grow up in language and in our culture we learn what
the word aesthetics means and we use that word more or less freely -- more
freely in everyday talk, less freely in philosophically informed discourse
on aesthetics.
speaking about one's own sense of beauty, while i am far from speaking of
any necessity to theorize one's own sense of beauty --experts in aesthetics
have done this for us and taught us about how we categorize our feelings --
i seriously doubt that anyone could use aesthetical categories competently
or develop an acceptable theory of aesthetics for that matter without having
certain feelings, feelings that enter their speaking about aesthetic
matters.
klaus
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