Art and Transformation

Journal of the American Philosophical Association 8 (4):567-585 (2022)
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Abstract

Encounters with art can change us in ways both big and small. This paper focuses on one of the more dramatic cases. I argue that works of art can inspire what L. A. Paul calls transformations, classic examples of which include getting married, having a child, and undergoing a religious conversion. Two features distinguish transformations from other changes we undergo. First, they involve the discovery of something new. Second, they result in a change in our core preferences. These two features make transformations hard to motivate. I argue, however, that art can help on both fronts. First, works of art can guide our attempt to imagine unfamiliar ways of living. Second, they can attract us to values we currently reject. I conclude by observing that what makes art powerful also makes it dangerous. Transformations are not always for the good, and art's ability to inspire them can be put to immoral ends.

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Antony Aumann
Northern Michigan University

Citations of this work

That’s Beyond My Imagination!Kiyohiro Sen - 2024 - Contemporary Aesthetics 22.
Categorizing Art.Kiyohiro Sen - 2024 - Dissertation, University of Tokyo

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References found in this work

The Pleasure of Art.Mohan Matthen - 2017 - Australasian Philosophical Review 1 (1):6-28.
The role of imagination in decision-making.Bence Nanay - 2016 - Mind and Language 31 (1):126-142.
How literature expands your imagination.Antonia Peacocke - 2021 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 103 (2):298-319.
On Beauty and Being Just.Elaine Scarry - 1999 - Princeton University Press.

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