University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Department of Philosophy
PhD, 1974
College Park, Maryland, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics
Aesthetics
  •  1618
    Aesthetic Contextualism
    Postgraduate Journal of Aesthetics 4 (3): 1-12. 2007.
    Let me begin with a quote: “The universal organum of philosophy—the ground stone of its entire architecture—is the philosophy of art.”1 This statement, made in 1800 by the German Idealist philosopher Friedrich Schelling, is rather striking, not only because of its grandiosity, but also because it contrasts with what the majority of contemporary philosophers would be prepared to say on the subject. There is nevertheless a grain of truth in the claim that there is a peculiar connection between art…Read more
  •  1315
    What a musical work is
    Journal of Philosophy 77 (1): 5-28. 1980.
  •  895
    Pleasure and the value of works of art
    British Journal of Aesthetics 32 (4): 295-306. 1992.
  •  726
    Defining art historically
    British Journal of Aesthetics 19 (3): 21-33. 1979.
  •  702
    Erotic art and pornographic pictures
    Philosophy and Literature 29 (1): 228-240. 2005.
    In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Erotic Art and Pornographic PicturesJerrold LevinsonOnly in primitive art, with its urgent need to evoke the sources of fertility, are the phallus and the vulva emphasized, as it were innocently. By ancient Greek and Roman times there already existed the special category of the pornographic—graphic art or writing supposed, like a harlot, or porne, to sexually stimulate.1IAS REGARDS PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS of the opposition between the…Read more
  •  418
    Hume's standard of taste: The real problem
    Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 60 (3). 2002.
  •  402
    Defending hypothetical intentionalism
    British Journal of Aesthetics 50 (2): 139-150. 2010.
    I here defend hypothetical intentionalism, the view of literary and cinematic interpretation that I endorse, from some recent criticisms, and then illustrate the appeal of the view in connection with a recent film of enigmatic cast
  •  383
    What Are Aesthetic Properties?
    Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 79. 2005.
    [Derek Matravers] Jerrold Levinson maintains that he is a realist about aesthetic properties. This paper considers his positive arguments for such a view. An argument from Roger Scruton, that aesthetic realism would entail the absurd claim that many aesthetic predicates were ambiguous, is also considered and it is argued that Levinson is in no worse position with respect to this argument than anyone else. However, Levinson cannot account for the phenomenon of aesthetic autonomy: namely, that we …Read more
  •  327
    Philosophy and music
    Topoi 28 (2): 119-123. 2009.
    This essay explores some aspects of the relation between philosophy and music. First, how music can inspire philosophy; second, how philosophy can inspire music. Mathematics as a middle term between music and philosophy, the idea of wholeness in a musical composition or a philosophical text, music as a mode of thought displaying traits such as logic, coherence, and sense—these are some ways in which music and philosophy may be seen to be connected. Also, composers sometimes have explicit recours…Read more
  •  320
    Art and Pornography: Philosophical Essays (edited book)
    with Hans Maes
    Oxford University Press UK. 2012.
    Art and Pornography presents a series of essays which investigate the artistic status and aesthetic dimension of pornographic pictures, films, and literature, and explores the distinction, if there is any, between pornography and erotic art. Is there any overlap between art and pornography, or are the two mutually exclusive? If they are, why is that? If they are not, how might we characterize pornographic art or artistic pornography, and how might pornographic art be distinguished, if at all, fr…Read more
  •  287
    The Oxford handbook of aesthetics (edited book)
    Oxford University Press. 2003.
    The Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics brings the authority, liveliness, and multi-disciplinary scope of the Handbook series to a fascinating theme in philosophy and the arts. Jerrold Levinson has assembled a hugely impressive range of talent to contribute 48 brand-new essays, making this the most comprehensive guide available to the theory, application, history, and future of the field. This Handbook will be invaluable to academics and students across philosophy and all branches of the arts, both as…Read more
  •  284
    Intrinsic value and the notion of a life
    Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 62 (4). 2004.
  •  266
    Wollheim on pictorial representation
    Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 56 (3): 227-233. 1998.
  •  263
    Aesthetics and Ethics: Essays at the Intersection (edited book)
    Cambridge University Press. 1998.
    This major collection of essays stands at the border of aesthetics and ethics and deals with charged issues of practical import: art and morality, the ethics of taste, and censorship. As such its potential interest is by no means confined to professional philosophers; it should also appeal to art historians and critics, literary theorists, and students of film. Prominent philosophers in both aesthetics and ethics tackle a wide array of issues. Some of the questions explored in the volume include…Read more
  •  219
    Why there are no tropes
    Philosophy 81 (4): 563-580. 2006.
    This paper effectively inverts the argument of an earlier paper of mine, “The Particularisation of Attributes”, to argue that there are no necessarily particularised and unshareable attributes of the sort that contemporary metaphysics calls tropes. In that earlier paper I distinguished two kinds of attributes, namely, properties and qualities, and argued that if there were tropes they could only be particularised qualities, i.e. particularisations of, say, redness, rather than particularisations…Read more
  •  200
    Jokes: Philosophical Thoughts on Joking Matters
    Mind 111 (442): 380-385. 2002.
  •  194
    The pleasures of aesthetics: philosophical essays
    Cornell University Press. 1996.
    What Is Aesthetic Pleasure? When is pleasure in an object properly denominated aesthetic? The characterization of aesthetic pleasure is something that ...
  •  185
    Aesthetic concepts: essays after Sibley (edited book)
    Oxford University Press. 2001.
    Exploring key topics in contemporary aesthetics, this work analyzes the issues that arise from the unique works of Frank Sibley (1923-1996), who developed a distinctive aesthetic theory through a number of papers published between 1955 and 1995. Here, thirteen philosophical aestheticians bring Sibley's insight into a contemporary framework, exploring the ways his ideas foster important new discussion about issues in aesthetics. This collection will interest anyone interested in philosophy, art t…Read more
  •  176
    Aesthetic Supervenience
    Southern Journal of Philosophy 22 (S1): 93-110. 1984.
  •  165
    Artistic Worth and Personal Taste
    Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 68 (3): 225-233. 2010.
  •  160
    Music as narrative and music as drama
    Mind and Language 19 (4). 2004.
    In this paper I address the issue of narrativity in music. The central question is the extent to which pure instrumental music in the classical tradition can or should be understood as narrative, that is, as narrating a story of some kind. I am interested in the varying potential and aptness for narrative construal of different sorts of instrumental music, and in what the content of such narratives might plausibly be thought to be. But ultimately I explore, at greater length, an alternative way …Read more
  •  157
    Contemplating art: essays in aesthetics
    Oxford University Press. 2006.
    Contemplating Art is a compendium of writings from the last ten years by one of the leading figures in aesthetics, Jerrold Levinson. The twenty-four essays range over issues in general aesthetics and those relating to specific arts--in particular music, film, and literature. It will appeal not only to philosophers but also to musicologists, literary theorists, art critics, and reflective lovers of the arts.
  •  156
    Music, Art, and Metaphysics
    Oxford University Press. 2011.
    This is a long-awaited reissue of Jerrold Levinson's 1990 book which gathers together the writings that made him a leading figure in contemporary aesthetics. These highly influential essays are essential reading for debates on the definition of art, the ontology of art, emotional response to art, expression in art, and the nature of art forms.
  •  153
    Refining art historically
    Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 47 (1): 21-33. 1989.
  •  144
    Messages in art
    Australasian Journal of Philosophy 73 (2). 1995.
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  143
    La créativité
    In Julien A. Deonna & Emma Tieffenbach (eds.), Petit traité des valeurs, Fondation Ernst Et Lucie Schmidheiny. 2018.
    La créativité est une valeur aujourd’hui abondamment conférée à des objets fort divers. Ainsi, bien qu’elle soit principalement discutée dans le domaine de l’art, on en parle souvent à propos des sciences, du sport, de l’entrepreneuriat, de la politique, de la pédagogie ou encore de situations plus ordinaires, telles que la créativité culinaire ou humoristique. En quoi ces diverses formes de créativité se ressemblent-elles ? Qu’est-ce qui fait leur valeur et en quoi se distinguent-elles de proch…Read more
  •  130
    The Aesthetics of Music
    Philosophical Review 109 (4): 608. 2000.
    As readers of this book will discover, from several disputes with me contained in its pages, Scruton and I are not in accord on a number of matters in the philosophy of music. Notwithstanding that, and more generally the fact that the book is controlled by a phenomenological-idealist perspective on music that I regard as fundamentally misplaced, in my estimation The Aesthetics of Music is the most valuable work to date on the subject of its title, one that addresses that subject in its full rang…Read more
  •  112
    The Art Circle (review)
    Philosophical Review 96 (1): 141-146. 1987.
  •  107
    This is a long-awaited reissue of Jerrold Levinson's 1990 book which gathers together the writings that made him a leading figure in contemporary aesthetics. These highly influential essays are essential reading for debates on the definition of art, the ontology of art, emotional response to art, expression in art, and the nature of art forms.
  •  106
    The Aesthetic Appreciation of Music
    British Journal of Aesthetics 49 (4): 415-425. 2009.
    This essay offers a sketch of what aesthetic appreciation of music fundamentally consists in, underlining both why such engagement counts as aesthetic and why such engagement counts as appreciation, and emphasizing the role of perception of gesture in the grasp of musical expressiveness. The analysis is illustrated by a piece of chamber music of Gabriel Fauré. In the last section of the essay I address some remarks of Roger Scruton on the connection between music and dance, ones whose relevance …Read more