Theodore Gracyk

Many fans of country music have endorsed the common and longstanding view that commerce erodes the authenticity of the music they love. However, historians of the genre are as clear as can be: the genre was invented by the entertainment industry for commercial reasons. One might conclude that the fans are simply mistaken, and are being duped by the very thing they protest. This essay aims to provide a more sympathetic reading of their complaint by reading it as an endorsement of Martin Heidegger’s reflections on living authentically in the face of the commercialization of technology. To make this case, several meanings of authenticity must be disentangled, supporting the conclusion that fans tend to focus on commercially-crafted signifiers of authenticity at the expense of self-discovery that underlies the authenticity they desire.

Immanuel Kant's pre-Critical aesthetic theory denied the possibility of a transcendental deduction for claims of taste. However, his mature aesthetic theory, expressed in the Critique of Judgment, demanded such a deduction, and his mature theory was more complex than his pre-Critical theory in many other ways. Furthermore, these changes seem to many commentators to be at odds with Kant's views in the Critique of Pure Reason. For instance, pure aesthetic judgments seem to demand synthesis of a manifold in the absence of recognition in a concept, whereas the first Critique seems to deny the possibility of synthesis apart from use of the categories. Kant's reasons for changing his views and for advocating a theory so problematic for his own philosophy are usually attributed to the need to bridge the gap between practical and theoretical reason. This explanation does not provide an adequate account of Kant's actual claims in the third Critique. This dissertation aims at clarifying Kant's assertions that pure aesthetic judgments are basic to cognition of an objective world, and to the formation of empirical concepts through which the actual world is cognized. ;The dissertation has five chapters. Chapter One introduces the problem and surveys the existing literature. Chapter Two argues that empirical knowledge was an important concern for Kant, and that the third Critique was in part intended to address the topic of empirical concept formation. The remaining chapters deal with problems for this interpretation while arguing that it allows the first and third Critiques to be read as presenting a single coherent theory about cognition as requiring the use of empirical concepts

When academics analyze popular art, they usually subsume it under the rubric of "popular culture." Unfortunately, this approach assumes that "aesthetics is naked cultural hegemony, and popular discrimination properly rejects it."' Although it is accepted that jazz is particularly rich as a mass-culture artform, its status as popular music--something distinct from the Western tradition of "serious" composed music--taints it as distinctly less valuable. In an attempt to undercut this prevailing disregard for the aesthetic value of popular music, I shall focus on the special case of jazz as treated in the seminal writings of Theodor W. Adorno. His theories have supported the tendency to approach popular art in terms of a sociological critique that downplays its aesthetic dimension; I will argue that Adorno's writings actually support the appraisal of jazz (and, by extension, other popular music) on its own terms.

A spate of recent articles on Thomas Reid’s aesthetic theory constitutes a valuable commentary on both Reid’s own theory and on eighteenth-century aesthetics. However, while these articles provide a generally sympatheic introduction to Reid’s position, they are primarily expository in nature and uncritical in tone. I shall therefore address the plausibility of both Reid’s general aesthetic theory and the arguments advanced for the theory. I contend that his theory, however much an improvement over those offered by his contemporaries, is fatally flawed by internal confusion and inconsistency; he cannot justify his claim that beauty and sublimity are objective qualities of objects. My analysis focuses on Reid’s mature statement on aesthetics, the essay “Of Taste” found at the end of the Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man.

Harvey Siegel argues that minimum competency testing (MCT) is incompatible with strong sense critical thinking. His arguments are reviewed and contrasted with positions held by John E. McPeck and Michael Scriven. Siegel's arguments seem directed against the prevailing form of MCT. However, alternative formats which allow for the aggregate and context-sensitive nature of critical thinking are not doomed to the arbitrariness Siegel finds. MCT may be a legitimate and useful means for furthering critical thinking as one of our educational ideals

Surveying the full range of David Hume's remarks on beauty throughout his writings, the essay makes the case that his alleged aesthetic scepticism is his summary of the consequences of Francis Hutcheson's theory and not his own position. Hume's position is that the complexity of human aesthetic response encourages shallow evaluations of most art, but a response that parallels disinterested moral judgment can result in justified aesthetic evaluations. As such, Hume modifies the emphasis of "inner sense" analyses of beauty. For Hume, aesthetic predicates denote more than pleasant and unpleasant responses; any object which regularly causes pleasure in some viewers is properly regarded as beautiful. As a term of recommendation, "beauty" is justifiably ascribed to objects which regularly appeal to a delicacy of taste. The essay argues that interpretation of Hume's justification for the superiority of delicacy of taste depends on understanding how he uses the term "sentiment" in specific passages of the essay "Of the Standard of Taste," but his meaning has been misunderstood or overlooked by previous commentators.

_The Philosophy of Art _is a highly accessible introduction to current key issues and debates in aesthetics and philosophy of art. Chapters on standard topics are balanced by topics of interest to today's students, including creativity, authenticity, cultural appropriation, and the distinction between popular and fine art. Other topics include emotive expression, pictorial representation, definitional strategies, and artistic value. Presupposing no prior knowledge of philosophy, Theodore Gracyk draws on three decades of teaching experience to provide a balanced and engaging overview, clear explanations, and many thought-provoking examples. All chapters have a strong focus on current debates in the field, yet historical figures are not neglected. Major current theories are set beside key ideas from Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Marx, and Hegel. Chapters conclude with advice on further readings, and there are recommendations of films that will serve as a basis for further reflection and discussion. Key ideas are immediately accompanied by exercises that will test students' reactions and understanding. Many chapters call attention to ideology, prejudices, and common clichés that interfere with clear thinking. Beautifully written and thoroughly comprehensive, _The Philosophy of Art _is the ideal resource for anyone who wants to explore recent developments in philosophical thinking about the arts. It is also provides the perfect starting point for anyone who wants to reflect on, and challenge, their own assumptions about the nature and value of art.

Provides a wide-ranging introduction to aesthetic theory and philosophy of art for readers, particularly university students who seek an overview of major controversies, theories, and writers. The 44 readings are chosen for their capacity to provide a representative set of competing perspectives within the contemporary debate and are edited to be accessible to undergraduates. With 40 readings by contemporary authors and 4 classic texts that provide a solid foundation, Aesthetics: A Reader is both accessible and current

You know it when you hear it, but can you say what it is? How you know? Why you either love or loathe it? What makes it original or derivative? To a music that tends to render its aficionados and detractors equally inarticulate, Theodore Gracyk brings a rare critical clarity. His book tells us once and for all what makes rock music rock. A happy marriage of aesthetic theory and the aesthetic practice that moved a generation, Rhythm and Noise is the only thorough-going account of rock as a distinct artistic medium rather than a species of popular culture. What’s in a name? “Rock” or “Rock ’n’ Roll?” Grayck argues that rock and roll is actually a performance style, one in a number of musical styles comprising rock. What distinguishes rock, Gracyk tells us, is how it is mediated by technology: The art is in the recording. The lesson is a heady one, entailing a tour through the history of rock music from Elvis Presley’s first recordings in 1954 to Kurt Cobain’s suicide in 1994. Gracyk takes us through key recordings, lets us hear what rock musicians and their critics have to say, shows us how other kinds of music compare, and gives us the philosophical background to make more than passing sense of the medium. His work takes up the common myths and stereotypes about rock, popular and academic, and focuses on the features of the music that electrify fans and consistently generate controversy. When Elvis came to town, did southern sheriffs say that rock was barbaric and addictive? Well so did Theodor Adorno, in his way, and Allan Bloom, in his, and Gracyk takes aim at this charge as it echoes through the era of recorded music. He looks at what rock has to do with romanticism and, even more, with commercialism. And he questions the orthodoxy of making grand distinctions between “serious” and “popular” art. Keenly attuned to the nuances of music and of all the ways that we can think about it, this exhilarating book tunes us in, as no other has, to the complex role of rock in American culture.