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Truth Matters, Aesthetically Cover

Truth Matters, Aesthetically

Estetika: The European Journal of Aesthetics

Volume 58 (2021): Issue 2

By: Tilmann Köppe and Julia Langkau

Open Access

|Sep 2021

Abstract

This paper defends a version of aesthetic cognitivism: the truth of statements expressed, implied, or alluded to by a work of fiction matters aesthetically, and bears upon the work’s aesthetic value. Our aim is to explore a route from truth to aesthetic value that claims, roughly, that, if our engagement with a work of fiction is based on truth, it is more vivid than otherwise, and thereby contributes to the aesthetic value of the work. Whether truth increases the vividness of our engagement with fiction is an empirical question. On the assumption that it does, we spell out some consequences for the aesthetic value, and in particular for the literary value of a work, as well as for critical practice.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33134/eeja.224 | Journal eISSN: 2571-0915

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Language: English

Page range: 114 - 128

Submitted on: Jan 31, 2020

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Accepted on: Nov 4, 2020

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Published on: Sep 16, 2021

Published by: Helsinki University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

aesthetic cognitivism,

aesthetic value,

literary value,

critical practice

© 2021 Tilmann Köppe, Julia Langkau, published by Helsinki University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 58 (2021): Issue 2