Kyle Kirby

The Auburn view of aesthetic value understands aesthetic value to be among the basic kinds of value. In distinguishing the Auburn view from reductive theories, James Shelley claims that value specifies aesthetic value via the determinable-determinate relation. First, I argue that aesthetic value is not a determinate of the value determinable by showing that the current Auburn view fails to satisfy standard features of determination. Second, I propose a friendly amendment to the Auburn view. I argue that Auburn theorists should claim that aesthetic value is a determination dimension, rather than a determinate, of the value determinable. Taking aesthetic value to be a dimension satisfies standard features of determination and explains the failures of the current Auburn view to satisfy those features. Doing so also preserves the structural features that made Shelley’s initial claim appealing, thereby capturing the essential aspects of the Auburn view.