Jeremy Page: "The Authority of Experience"

Jeremy Page, Uppsala University: "The Authority of Experience"

Abstract
In aesthetics the view that affect or pleasure are “authoritative” and have some form of epistemic priority in justifying aesthetic judgments has traditionally been popular. That is, the authority of affect thesis: The authoritative source for the justification of aesthetic judgment is an affective revelation of the aesthetic character or value of the object judged. In this paper, I argue against this thesis in relation to aesthetic judgments of art. I introduce and defend a view which is more liberal, more ecumenical and prima-facie more plausible: that experience is authoritative. In light of this view, I give a negative analysis of the prospects of defending the authority of affect or pleasure.