Abstract

This thesis develops and argues for an objectivity theory of aesthetic judgments, where the objectivity of judgments in an artistic tradition is grounded in conditions which apply across traditions . The theory is developed on the framework of an objectivity theory in Western aesthetics, the theory of Frank Sibley. Modifications result from analysis of the theory itself and application of the theory cross-culturally, the latter due to taking seriously the professed universal voice of theories such as Sibley's. ;The cross-cultural application of the theory uses Japanese poetry, specifically the poetry and critical writings of the 17th century haiku poet Basho and his disciples, with emphasis on the aesthetic principle makoto . The examination of Japanese poetry performs two roles in the overall argument: first, it satisfies a necessary condition of the correctness of the objectivity theory under consideration by showing that the theory successfully picks out, as objective, a tradition which has strong empirical claims to objectivity; second, the nature of makoto necessitates a revision in the initial formulation of the aesthetic in the objectivity theory. ;This revision broadens the notion of the aesthetic by emphasizing the complex nature of some nonaesthetic features and also showing that some nonaesthetic features upon which aesthetic qualities depend are outside of the work of art. Based on an analysis of the aesthetic quality makoto, a class of aesthetic qualities called Intentional-Aesthetic qualities is put forward. This classification, when focused on the question of the intentional fallacy, allows guidelines to be formulated as to the appropriateness of appeal to authorial intention within criticism. Furthermore, this classification of Intentional-Aesthetic qualities offers a theoretical model for the analysis of other types of aesthetic qualities, which may also be dependent upon complex nonaesthetic features, some of which may be outside the work of art itself