Aesthtic Attitude

The aesthetic attitude is a frame of mind that can be adopted by individuals when they choose to. It involves focusing on the aesthetic features of a situation, rather than simply looking at its beauty or ugliness. This attitude is not just about finding something beautiful, but also about evaluating it for artistic effect. For example, if we are asked to adopt an optimistic attitude, we may focus on features of the situation that can be positively viewed, such as the silver lining in a bad situation. On the other hand, if we are asked to adopt an aesthetic attitude, we may focus on features of the situation that we think are relevant aesthetically, such as the plot and character development of a play being performed.

The aesthetic attitude is not just an artistic attitude; it is broader than that. We can take the aesthetic attitude toward anything at all, making it an aesthetic object. For example, a street scene could be approached aesthetically, even if it is not described as art or nature. This means that we can take the aesthetic attitude toward things that are not beautiful, as well. Some art is ugly, and some artworks even flaunt their ugliness for artistic effect. In fact, calling something ugly is giving it an aesthetic evaluation, which in turn requires taking the aesthetic attitude toward it.

In adopting the aesthetic attitude towards a sunset, we start to look at the aesthetic features of the scene, such as the visual composition of the landscape and view, or the soft color gradations. If we find these elements unsatisfactory, we might conclude that it was an ugly sunset. This conclusion could only be reached by looking at the scene aesthetically, or adopting the aesthetic attitude toward the scene.

While taking the aesthetic attitude toward something is not the same as finding it beautiful, it is a matter of debate whether it involves some kind of pleasure. While it does not necessarily involve straightforward aesthetic enjoyment or positive aesthetic evaluation, it might involve a broader kind of enjoyment, pleasure, or satisfaction. The specific aesthetic attitude theory will determine whether it involves pleasure and what kind of pleasure it involves.

The term 'aesthetic attitude theory' refers to the theory that distinguishes aesthetic objects from non-aesthetic objects by our ability to take an aesthetic attitude towards them. While there is consensus on this classification, aesthetic attitude theories have experienced waning popularity in recent decades due to criticism or other alternative accounts of the distinction.

The term 'aesthetic' is applied to various aspects of life, including aesthetic attitude, aesthetic objects, aesthetic experience, aesthetic evaluations, aesthetic judgments, aesthetic features, aesthetic contemplation, and aesthetic emotions. Different theorists have different views on how these notions relate to each other and which is the most basic, but all aim to discuss the special sphere of the aesthetic.

There are two ways of thinking about the aesthetic attitude: one is a special kind of disinterested attitude, where the person who adopts the aesthetic attitude does not view objects with personal interest, such as what they can do for them. For example, a collector might view an expensive painting and praise herself for owning it, but she fails to think about it aesthetically. If she were instead viewing the painting contemplatively, she would be thinking about its composition, meaning, and so on.

For many, disinterest is only a necessary condition of the aesthetic attitude, and having this kind of disinterest does not guarantee that it is an aesthetic attitude. Something else may have to be present. For example, a court judge might approach a trial with disinterest, trying to be impartial and not let any personal feelings or goals cloud his judgment.

Having a disinterested attitude toward something does not necessarily preclude finding it interesting. If the collector finds the interactions among a certain cluster of figures especially meaningful, she can describe her as interested in those figures. However, this does not mean that she is interested in them for some external purpose. Disinterestedness does not indicate complete lack of interest, but a lack of personal investment or goal-directed interest.

Appreciation for its own sake is another traditional way of characterizing the aesthetic attitude. This means that we want to experience the work, not because it fulfills some desire for something else, but just because we want to have that experience. For example, a museum-goer may spend time in Egyptian art galleries to make her son happy, or in Islamic art galleries simply because she wants to see the objects for their own sake and not for anything beyond or outside of them.

To understand the nature of the aesthetic attitude, we can turn to the development of the aesthetic attitude in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, then examine the three main twentieth-century aesthetic attitude theories and some of the criticisms made of them.