Exam #5: Format & Review
PHIL 2303: Critical Thinking Thomas J. Brommage Fall 2023
The following concepts are important for the upcoming exam:
1. Subjectivity: While art judgments are subjective, they are not entirely subjective. Beauty is not solely in the "eye of the beholder."
2. Factu...
Exam #5: Format & Review PHIL 2303: Critical Thinking Thomas J. Brommage Fall 2023 Exam Review The following are some concepts that may “rear their ugly heads.” Although this is not
necessarily a complete list, mastery over these specific concepts will aid you significantly in this
exam. Subjectivity
●While subjective impressions are typically important in making judgments about art, that is not to say it is entirely subjective. Contrary to the cliche, beauty is not just in the “eye of the beholder.” factual vs. normative judgments aesthetic vs. ethical ●Aesthetic judgments are normative: that is, they express a value. But unlike ethical judgments which value right/wrong, aesthetic judgments use different values (beauty, elegance, complexity, or more vague and metaphorical values like vision and influence).
●Like aesthetic and instrumental judgments, ethical judgments are normative: that is they issue values. In the case of ethics, that is a different value than an aesthetic or instrumental values. Ethical judgments make claims of value regarding moral blame and praise. ●And just like other evaluative judgments (ethical, instrumental), they also have a strange relationship to factual judgments. ●
normativity authority/expertise and art ●Authority/expertise is often is not as cogent when applied to aesthetic matters, since aesthetics is not a domain of knowledge. ●Attention to basic technique is important (viz., how the painter chooses to paint or the guitarist plays a specific run, etc.), but often these are intended to provide a specific effect. interpretive judgments intentional fallacy Hermeneutics Inclusiveness
●Inclusiveness: the interpretation accounts for all the available evidence Coherence
● Coherence: the interpretation largely logically “hangs together” well correspondence ●Correspondence: the interpretation corresponds with features of the work (with attention to context in which it was created). artistic medium and criteria ●Artistic medium varies quite a bit, and various medium provide differing criteria for their assessment. Some criteria (e.g., lyrics) while important for a musical or an opera, might not be relevant to a jazz performance or a sculpture. ●Often the criteria provide a basis for evaluative judgment, based on qualitative assessment of a set of criteria prescribed by the medium itself. The relative value of each criteria allows for intersubjective assessment of aesthetic judgments.
naturalistic fallacy virtue ethics
●Virtue Ethics: Originating from the moral philosophy of Aristotle, this moral theory emphasizes development of character as the source of moral goodness ●Virtue Ethics:
○ Phillipa Foot ▶
○ G. E. M. Anscombe▶
○ Alisdair MacIntyre ▶ utilitarianism ●Consequentialism (aka Utilitarianism): Originates from the British philosophers Bentham and Mill, emphasizes consequences of an action as a way to evaluate its moral quality.
●Utilitarianism emphasizes the consequences of an action to contain its moral worth. The moral “test” for this moral theory is the principle of utility: the action which brings about the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people is considered to be the most moral act.
●Consequentialism: ○ Peter Singer ▶
○ R. M. Hare ▶
○ Amartya Sen▶
Deontology
●Deontology: Originally credited to Immanuel Kant, this theory emphasizes duty and intention as the source of moral goodness. ●The test for the moral rightness of an ethical action is the categorical imperative: an action is considered morally right if it can be universalized such that one would will all people would act in the same way in identical circumstances. ○ Lying is not morally permissible, since if everyone lied then we could never ▶
trust anyone.
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