Going Together: Toward an Account of Sharing Aesthetic Experiences

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2019

Publisher

University of Illinois Press

Abstract

We share aesthetic experiences, for instance by going to the movies or the theater or by tasting wine together. Sharing aesthetic experiences has received less philosophical scrutiny than it deserves, given its apparent pervasiveness in everyday life and its philosophical import. There are philosophical as well as empirical grounds for thinking that sharing aesthetic experiences can be more meaningful and richer in both phenomenal and epistemic content, as contrasted with solitary ones. This paper sketches an account of sharing aesthetic experience and, in doing so, draws connections between sharing experiences of aesthetic objects on the one hand and aesthetic judgments and education on the other. It then introduces a notion of aesthetic conversations as a central aspect of such experiences, judgment, and learning. The paper concludes with a discussion of ways in which sharing aesthetic experiences is a rich area for further philosophical exploration.

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