The Nature of Aesthetic Reality

In this chapter, I provide an account of the nature of aesthetic reality: more precisely, I say how aesthetic reality is to be like, if we accept that it exists. I focus on the merits of some of the main realist theories of aesthetic properties. In particular, I address Sibley’s epistemic notion of taste, and then go on to invoke three realist views of aesthetic properties, which I take to be compatible and complementary: as value-grounding properties (Beardsley), as higher-order ways of appearing (Levinson), and as desire-mediated properties (Zemach). I explain why, contrary to claims by Levinson and Moore, beauty should be included among the aesthetic properties.