Categories of LiteratureSymposium: “Categories of Art” at 50

Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 78 (1):70-74 (2020)
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Abstract

Kendall Walton’s “Categories of Art” (1970) is one of the most important and influential papers in twentieth-century aesthetics. It is almost universally taken to refute traditional aesthetic formalism/empiricism, according to which all that matters aesthetically is what is manifest to perception. Most commentators assume that the argument of “Categories” applies to works of literature. Walton himself notes a word of caution: “The aesthetic properties of works of literature are not happily called ‘perceptual’ … (The notion of perceiving a work in a category … is not straightforwardly applicable to literary works)” (335 n.5). However, he goes on to say that although he focuses “on visual and musical works … the central points I make concerning them hold, with suitable modifications, for novels, plays, and poems as well” (335 n.5). Here I consider what “suitable modifications” are required to extend the account to literature.

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Stacie Friend
University of Edinburgh

Citations of this work

Waltonian PerceptualismSymposium: “Categories of Art” at 50.Madeleine Ransom - 2020 - The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 78 (1):66-70.
Aesthetic Properties: Context Dependent and Perceptual.Kendall L. Walton - 2020 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 78 (1):79-84.
Aesthetic Properties: Context Dependent and Perceptual.Kendall L. Walton - 2020 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 78 (1):79-84.

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References found in this work

A Study of Concepts.Christopher Peacocke - 1992 - Studia Logica 54 (1):132-133.
Categories of Art.Kendall L. Walton - 1970 - Philosophical Review 79 (3):334-367.
Fiction as a Genre.Stacie Friend - 2012 - Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 112 (2pt2):179--209.
In defense of hearing meanings.Berit Brogaard - 2018 - Synthese 195 (7):2967-2983.

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