Drafts by Jonathan Johnson
For the forthcoming collection of philosophical perspectives on play, edited by Jeremy Sampson.
I... more For the forthcoming collection of philosophical perspectives on play, edited by Jeremy Sampson.
I note several common assumptions about the concept of 'play', before surveying its use in several aesthetic theories. This is followed by a confirmation of the usefulness of play in aesthetics, and a brief glimpse at how we might aesthetically evaluate play.
Comments welcome, especially in the hopes of revision ahead of publication.
Many writers who touch on the notion of ugliness claim that the concept is simply the opposite of... more Many writers who touch on the notion of ugliness claim that the concept is simply the opposite of beauty. In this sense they contend that ugliness exists only in reference to beauty, and that its presence is a kind of reversal or failure of a thing or experience to reach the bar of beauty. While the claim may appear coherent within certain aesthetic systems, it also encounters challenges when faced with the phenomenology of the experience of ugliness. In this paper I will examine the challenges of reversing definitions of beauty in regard to internal coherence and correspondence to the experience of ugliness. The examination will touch on three impactful accounts of positive aesthetic judgment and also address the difficulties of 'reconstructing' aesthetic theories. 1
Conference Presentations by Jonathan Johnson
The fruitfulness of the cross-pollination between religion and aesthetics is seen in the tomes of... more The fruitfulness of the cross-pollination between religion and aesthetics is seen in the tomes of Hans Urs Von Balthasar or the more recent works of David Bentley Hart and Gesa Elsbeth Thiessen. The intercultural nature of such endeavors is both situational and subliminal. In the first case, theological aestheticians have situated theology within aesthetic considerations and considered aesthetics theologically. In the second, we must recognize that religion has always been aesthetical and that aesthetic philosophy has always been affected by senses of ultimate concern. Thus, we readily find spiritual discourse hitched to beauty in Plato, or beauty in the discussion of Aquinas' godhead. Yet my aim in this presentation is to argue for the usefulness of making an intentionally narrow approach to an aesthetic argument in order to provide new perspectives in a relatively narrow topic in religion. An attendant aim of my approach is to encourage thoroughness in such a narrowed frame so as to both give credit to aesthetic insights and also to prevent prejudgment due to preoccupation with religious necessities. It is obvious, I am persuaded, that broad aesthetic concerns map readily (and rewardingly) onto broad religious concerns. But this dialogue can be reinvigorated by close attention to not only a singular topic, but also the state of treatments within aesthetics. I will demonstrate insights such an approach via my present research into the negative aesthetic judgments – namely the notion of ugliness. My eventual aim is application to the problem of evil and related theodicies, but in order to do so I wish to thoroughly examine merely the aesthetic riddles associated with ugliness apart from predetermination via apologetic concerns. Yet the project is already yielding fruit for creative ways to discuss its destination within religious philosophy, as well as highlighting challenges to such an enterprise. 2
Philosopher John Hyman makes a compelling case that theories of perception, whether in the arts o... more Philosopher John Hyman makes a compelling case that theories of perception, whether in the arts or the sciences, have mistakenly placed the visualized image 'in the eye of the beholder.' While correcting our commonplace notions of vision, Hyman explores elements associated with what Kant termed intuition. Moreover, in The Objective Eye (2006) Hyman interacts with Kant's attention to space and time in the earlier writer's work on intuition. Elsewhere in The Objective Eye Kant is critiqued for his aesthetic subjectivity, and yet Hyman's own form of realism directs our understanding of intuition towards the brain and towards the mental representation within our minds. In this presentation I explore how close the two positions might be, while comparing both Kant and Hyman to the intermediate stream of thinkers such as E.H. Gombrich. I also ask whether Kant's notion of intuition in the 3 rd Critique is more related to the eye or to the mind. Answering that question will allow us to see how Kant's description of intuition will be perceived in contemporary discussions of aesthetic perception.
While Kant’s Critique of the Power of Judgment is an important landmark in the history of aesthet... more While Kant’s Critique of the Power of Judgment is an important landmark in the history of aesthetic philosophy, the language in which his discussion is framed was in many ways unoriginal. Not only was the term aesthetic in use, but also the general issues and divisions had been established – most immediately to Kant by 18th century empiricists like Hume and Burke. So Kant’s focus on the beautiful and the sublime may simply be understood as conventions of the day. Yet readers looking for Kant’s treatment of ugliness will find very little of his writing dedicated to negative judgments of taste dealing with the repulsive.
What makes this paucity so tantalizing is that there seems to be a number of ways we might imagine Kant giving an account of our experience of ugliness. This has been pursued by interpreters such as Christian Helmut Wenzel and Alix Cohen, and in some sense this involves the reader building an edifice by reversing Kant’s views on beauty. But is ugliness merely the reversal of beauty for Kant, or for anyone? Other interpreters have found it impossible that Kant would countenance ugliness in his discussion of reflective judgments, such as David Shier and Paul Guyer. The reasons for this disallowance are various, and some even ask the reader to reconsider the legitimacy of Kant’s entire aesthetic on account of its failure to feature ugliness.
This paper explores the state of opinion on Kant’s view of ugliness, and notes the implications that these views have for Kant’s entire aesthetic. I then proceed to show how ugliness forces itself into any thorough account of aesthetic experience, showing us something of the emotional, visceral, and cognitive force of the repulsive, unsettling, disgusting, and many other forms of the ugly. Woven through this conclusion is the ability of artisans and audiences to tolerate, accommodate, and even embrace ugliness in contexts of art and aesthetic pleasure.
The terms we use to describe aesthetic experiences often need clarification in discourse, even wh... more The terms we use to describe aesthetic experiences often need clarification in discourse, even when the language of description is shared between the one who describes and the one hearing the description. This challenge is further complicated when engaging in intercultural aesthetics, where not only language, but also artistic conventions and traditions (including images, poetry, etc.) may be lacking on either side of the engagement. In spite of these difficulties, comparative engagement with aesthetic philosophies and artistic conventions can yield fruitful results, not only in expansion of concepts, but also in a critique of viewpoints. In this paper I pursue an encounter in intercultural aesthetics which exemplifies how aestheticians may nuance their conceptual systems by using them to grapple with another culture's aesthetic practices – not another culture's aesthetic terminology-but with unfamiliar artistic conventions. In other words, to see how well we may describe to ourselves the established artifacts or performances of another/an-other aesthetic tradition. To do so, I make an arbitrary limitation as to which position on aesthetics to examine and choose an artistic object or experience for consideration which challenges elements within this native framework. As an example of this type of intercultural aesthetic juxtaposition, I explore the concept of the sublime, (particularly Kant's account of the experience) with the artifacts and concepts in the Asian art of pénjǐng (盆景). Pénjǐng describes art forms which recreate scenic views in a confined space (including rock sculptures and bonsai-type miniature trees). After explaining the conventions and intentions influencing pénjǐng, I will first address Kant's dismissal of objects in his account of the mathematical sublime. As a controversial aspect of the Kantian sublime, this is the more readily critiqued notion. Perhaps more surprisingly, my second claim is that the association with size and magnitude of not only Kant's mathematical sublime, but also most conceptions of the sublime in western aesthetic traditions can be challenged by encounters with pénjǐng culture. Finally, after offering claims that pénjǐng can correctly be described as sublime (even consonant with much of Kant's mathematical sublime), I will make a brief conclusion of what this means for the nature of self-reference, power, and placement in experiences of the sublime. 2
Papers by Jonathan Johnson
Talks by Jonathan Johnson
My painting (ink and acrylic on butcher's block) featured in the King's College London interview ... more My painting (ink and acrylic on butcher's block) featured in the King's College London interview for the Centre for Philosophy and Visual Arts). Painting was created for Prof. Ellen Zhang, and includes the entire passage on Butcher Ding (庖丁) from Zhuangzi (庄子:内篇:养生主). Unfortunately the web-hosted interview had low-resolution images and students have requested a higher resolution file.
Artist's Statement: The painting is meant to deploy Zhuangzi's perspective-relative rhetoric on values: using 'ugly' imagery of a carcass and tendons, depicted with blood-like paint on a used butcher's block, the 'content' is Zhuangzi's ironical story of the 'beauty' of the skilled butcher's movements, ability, and spiritual proficiency in the Dao, as his blade moves effortlessly (无为/無為) to accomplish its dao.
My painting (watercolour), used to illustrate Bertrand Naivin's "Sur La Laideur". Painting was pr... more My painting (watercolour), used to illustrate Bertrand Naivin's "Sur La Laideur". Painting was presented to the late Lars Aagaard-Mogensen in Elea/Ascea, Italy. Thanks to the editor, prof. Naivin, for translating my writings as a chapter within "Existe-t-il une laideur kantienne?" (Éditions Complicités, Paris, 2017)
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Drafts by Jonathan Johnson
I note several common assumptions about the concept of 'play', before surveying its use in several aesthetic theories. This is followed by a confirmation of the usefulness of play in aesthetics, and a brief glimpse at how we might aesthetically evaluate play.
Comments welcome, especially in the hopes of revision ahead of publication.
Conference Presentations by Jonathan Johnson
What makes this paucity so tantalizing is that there seems to be a number of ways we might imagine Kant giving an account of our experience of ugliness. This has been pursued by interpreters such as Christian Helmut Wenzel and Alix Cohen, and in some sense this involves the reader building an edifice by reversing Kant’s views on beauty. But is ugliness merely the reversal of beauty for Kant, or for anyone? Other interpreters have found it impossible that Kant would countenance ugliness in his discussion of reflective judgments, such as David Shier and Paul Guyer. The reasons for this disallowance are various, and some even ask the reader to reconsider the legitimacy of Kant’s entire aesthetic on account of its failure to feature ugliness.
This paper explores the state of opinion on Kant’s view of ugliness, and notes the implications that these views have for Kant’s entire aesthetic. I then proceed to show how ugliness forces itself into any thorough account of aesthetic experience, showing us something of the emotional, visceral, and cognitive force of the repulsive, unsettling, disgusting, and many other forms of the ugly. Woven through this conclusion is the ability of artisans and audiences to tolerate, accommodate, and even embrace ugliness in contexts of art and aesthetic pleasure.
Papers by Jonathan Johnson
Talks by Jonathan Johnson
Artist's Statement: The painting is meant to deploy Zhuangzi's perspective-relative rhetoric on values: using 'ugly' imagery of a carcass and tendons, depicted with blood-like paint on a used butcher's block, the 'content' is Zhuangzi's ironical story of the 'beauty' of the skilled butcher's movements, ability, and spiritual proficiency in the Dao, as his blade moves effortlessly (无为/無為) to accomplish its dao.
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I note several common assumptions about the concept of 'play', before surveying its use in several aesthetic theories. This is followed by a confirmation of the usefulness of play in aesthetics, and a brief glimpse at how we might aesthetically evaluate play.
Comments welcome, especially in the hopes of revision ahead of publication.
What makes this paucity so tantalizing is that there seems to be a number of ways we might imagine Kant giving an account of our experience of ugliness. This has been pursued by interpreters such as Christian Helmut Wenzel and Alix Cohen, and in some sense this involves the reader building an edifice by reversing Kant’s views on beauty. But is ugliness merely the reversal of beauty for Kant, or for anyone? Other interpreters have found it impossible that Kant would countenance ugliness in his discussion of reflective judgments, such as David Shier and Paul Guyer. The reasons for this disallowance are various, and some even ask the reader to reconsider the legitimacy of Kant’s entire aesthetic on account of its failure to feature ugliness.
This paper explores the state of opinion on Kant’s view of ugliness, and notes the implications that these views have for Kant’s entire aesthetic. I then proceed to show how ugliness forces itself into any thorough account of aesthetic experience, showing us something of the emotional, visceral, and cognitive force of the repulsive, unsettling, disgusting, and many other forms of the ugly. Woven through this conclusion is the ability of artisans and audiences to tolerate, accommodate, and even embrace ugliness in contexts of art and aesthetic pleasure.
Artist's Statement: The painting is meant to deploy Zhuangzi's perspective-relative rhetoric on values: using 'ugly' imagery of a carcass and tendons, depicted with blood-like paint on a used butcher's block, the 'content' is Zhuangzi's ironical story of the 'beauty' of the skilled butcher's movements, ability, and spiritual proficiency in the Dao, as his blade moves effortlessly (无为/無為) to accomplish its dao.
https://philosophyandvisualarts.com/jonathan-johnson-aesthetics-ugliness-and-east-asian-art/