Here's the thesis: "The very cognitive approach which is indispensible to scientific discovery, the objectification of phenomena, which is to say the analysis of any pattern in impersonal terms of causal relations, is itself a source of certain values. When we objectify something we’re thereby well-positioned to treat that thing as having a special value, namely an aesthetic one. Objectification overlaps with the aesthetic attitude, which is the attitude we take up when we decide to evaluate something as a work of art, and thus objects, as such, are implicitly artworks."
And some news: I've taken a job recently and it's leaving me with much less time for blogging. I've still got a lot more to say, but until I settle in, at least, I won't be able to update as much. I'll likely have to switch to writing smaller pieces. We'll have to see...
Thought you might like this Ben, relevant to your posts on happiness - http://www.city-journal.org/2011/21_1_happiness.html
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to that interesting article. The thesis seems hard to argue with, although I don't think it goes quite far enough. The points about credit and individualism are especially strong, I think.
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