It is frequently claimed that we can learn very little, if anything, about the aesthetic character
of an artwork (or other object of aesthetic appraisal) on the basis of testimony. Such …

Though much of what we learn about the world comes from trusting testimony, the status of
aesthetic testimony–testimony about aesthetic value–is equivocal. We do listen to art critics …

This is the introductory essay to the collection of essays:'Acquaintance: New Essays'(eds.
Knowles & Raleigh, forthcoming, OUP). In this essay I provide some historical background to …

In this paper, I introduce an account of aesthetic understanding. Recent discussions of
aesthetic understanding have associated it with aesthetic justification and with …

Making an adequate aesthetic judgment about an object or an aesthetic property requires
first-hand experience of that object or property. Many have suggested that this principle is a …

Aesthetic hedonism is the default theory of aesthetic value. Some of its critics share with it a
pair of unquestioned assumptions, namely, that any theory of aesthetic value should make …

Aesthetic judgements that are formed on the basis of testimony are commonly held to be
defective, illegitimate, or otherwise problematic. This book assesses the debate surrounding …

1. Background Writers on aesthetics in the empiricist tradition such as Shaftsbury, Hume,
and Reid thought of their contributions as broadly empirical (see Shelley 2006 [2020]), and …

I propose a new account of the limits of aesthetic testimony. One of this new account's main
claims is that, among the kinds of aesthetic cognitive achievements, it is useful to distinguish …

This dissertation examines the practice of categorizing works of art and its relationship to art
criticism. How a work of art is categorized influences how it is appreciated and criticized …