The aesthetic attitude is not a myth -

Abstract

Arthur Schopenhauer is considered to have offered the first aesthetic attitude theory because he was the first to place the value of art on the psychological activity. The aesthetic attitude theory generally refers to a psychological state of perceiving entered into deliberately and on one’s own initiative. It is a way of attending or experiencing aspects in the world in a disinterested way. However, it is commonly accepted that George Dickie was successfully able to undermine aesthetic attitude theories in his paper entitled “The Myth of the Aesthetic Attitude.” There are two main goals I hope to achieve in this thesis. The first is to prove that Dickie’s criticisms were not successful in proving that the aesthetic attitude is empty. The second, is to provide my own view, relying on Schopenhauer, in an attempt to salvage the attitude theory and to show that the value of art lies in the subjective experience. I see the project of attacking Dickie as a precursor for working out my account of the aesthetic attitude.