Rebecca Wallbank: "Aesthetic Realism and Darwin’s Dilemma"

Rebecca Wallbank, Uppsala University: "Aesthetic Realism and Darwin’s Dilemma"

Abstract
Aesthetic realism is roughly the view that there are (a) aesthetic facts or truths and (b) that these facts or truths are independent of an (actual or hypothetical) observer’s evaluative attitudes. In response to a wave of research which has sought to defend aesthetic realism I’m going to draw upon the literature on moral realism to introduce an objection which I haven’t seen discussed within the aesthetics literature. The objection in question is an evolutionary debunking argument and I’m going to assess how far this objection can run within the aesthetic domain.