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Fechner revisited: Towards an inclusive approach to aesthetics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 March 2013

W. Tecumseh Fitch  and
Gesche Westphal-Fitch
W. Tecumseh Fitch
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria. tecumseh.fitch@univie.ac.atgesche.w.fitch@univie.ac.athttp://cogbio.univie.ac.at
Gesche Westphal-Fitch
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria. tecumseh.fitch@univie.ac.atgesche.w.fitch@univie.ac.athttp://cogbio.univie.ac.at
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Abstract

Accepting Bullot & Reber's (B&R's) criteria for art appreciation would confine the study of aesthetics to those works for which historical information is available, mainly post–eighteenth-century Western “high art.” We reject their contention that “correct” artistic understanding is limited to experts with detailed knowledge or education in art, which implies a narrowly elitist conception of aesthetics. Scientific aesthetics must be broadly inclusive.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 140 - 141
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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