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Collingwood's Philosophy of Art As a Basis for Virtue Aesthetics

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Collingwood's Philosophy of Art As a Basis for Virtue Aesthetics COLLINGWOOD’S PHILOSOPHY OF ART AS A BASIS FOR VIRTUE AESTHETICS by David Collins B.F.A., Film & Video, York University, 2002 M.F.A., Film & Video, York University, 2005 A thesis presented to Ryerson University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Program of Philosophy Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2014 © (David Collins) 2014 AUTHOR’S DECLARATION FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF A THESIS I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I authorize Ryerson University to lend this thesis to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Ryerson University to reproduce this thesis by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii ABSTRACT In this thesis I show how Aristotle’s approach to ethics can be applied to aesthetics in order to address normative concerns relating to practices of artistic creation and spectatorship, and how R. G. Collingwood’s philosophy of art provides an understanding of these practices that works as a basis for such an approach. I begin by discussing the connection between aesthetic and ethical normativity as found in the thought of various prominent philosophers, and review the contemporary work done in the name of ‘virtue aesthetics’. I then explicate Aristotle’s ethics, with a particular focus on his definition of virtue and his discussion of practical wisdom, and give an overview of Collingwood’s understanding of art and the role of imagination in artistic expression and understanding, before synthesizing the structure of Aristotle’s ethics with the content of Collingwood’s philosophy of art in order to arrive at an outline of a Collingwoodian virtue aesthetics. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I should like to thank Prof. Elizabeth (‘Betty’) Trott for her work in supervising this thesis, especially the amount of time she spent reading, re-reading and commenting on various drafts, and for the interest she showed in the connection of aesthetics and morality and in the practical applicability of philosophical ideas; Prof. R. Jo Kornegay for agreeing to act as second reader and for her detailed and rigorous feedback, especially on the sections dealing with Aristotle and contemporary virtue ethics; and Prof. R. Bruce Elder for stepping in at fairly short notice to act as my external examiner, and for the questions he posed during my defense. Thanks also go to the other Davids in the department: Prof. David Hunter, Graduate Program Director, for encouraging my desire to pursue the thesis option and for his support with scholarship applications and funding for conferences; Prof. David Checkland, for suggesting that I look at MacIntyre’s After Virtue in connection with this project; Prof. David Ciavatta, for reviewing the sections on Kant’s and Schiller’s aesthetics; and Prof. David Rondel of the University of Nevada, formerly of Ryerson, for discussions last year about the moral dimensions of art and for sharing his recent aesthetics-related paper with me before its publication. I should also like to thank Prof. Boris Hennig for discussing certain of Aristotle’s ideas with me, and for providing several translations of the original Greek; Prof. Glenn Parsons for clarifying which aspects of Collingwood’s thought I should focus on explaining in order to try to clear up the misunderstandings still prevalent among many contemporary analytic aestheticians; and Prof. Emeritus Evan Cameron of York University for numerous discussions about philosophy and film, and for introducing me to Collingwood in the first place. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ………………………………………………………………………….. iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ iv INTRODUCTION Project Summary and Outline ......................................................................... 1 Historical Context and Current Motivation .................................................... 3 1. THE IDEA OF A VIRTUE APPROACH TO AESTHETICS 1.1 The Connection Between Aesthetics and Ethics ............................................... 10 Kant on Aesthetics and Morality ..................................................................... 11 Aristotle, Plato and Appropriateness .............................................................. 16 1.2 Two Approaches to ‘Virtue Aesthetics’ ............................................................ 19 The Moral-Centred Approach: Kant and Schiller .......................................... 19 The Structural Approach: Hume ..................................................................... 23 1.3 Woodruff’s Virtue Theory of Aesthetics ........................................................... 27 Problems in Woodruff’s Theory ..................................................................... 30 1.4 Goldie on the Virtues of Art .............................................................................. 34 Problems in Goldie’s Theory .......................................................................... 35 Strengths of Goldie’s Theory ........................................................................... 38 1.5 Kieran and Lopes on Virtue Aesthetics ............................................................ 42 Kieran .............................................................................................................. 42 Lopes ................................................................................................................ 44 1.6 The General Shape of a Virtue Approach to Aesthetics ................................... 48 2. THE STRUCTURE OF A VIRTUE APPROACH 2.1 Aristotle’s Account of the Ethical Virtues …..................................................... 51 Eudaimonia and Goodness .............................................................................. 53 Virtue, ‘The Mean’ and Appropriateness ........................................................ 57 2.2 Practical Wisdom, Imagination and the Unity of the Virtues ............................ 63 Intuition, Comprehension, Discernment and Deliberation ............................. 65 The Imagination’s Role in Practical Wisdom ................................................. 69 The (Limited) Unity of the Virtues .................................................................. 73 2.3 MacIntyre on Virtues and Practices ................................................................... 74 Oakley as a Supplement to MacIntyre ............................................................. 78 2.4 The General Structure of a Neo-Aristotelian Virtue Approach ......................... 81 v 3. COLLINGWOOD’S PHILOSOPHY OF ART 3.1 Distinguishing Art from Craft ........................................................................... 84 Representation, Magic and Amusement .......................................................... 89 3.2 Art Proper, Expression and Imagination ........................................................... 95 Art as the Expression of Feeling ..................................................................... 95 Art as Imaginative Creation ............................................................................ 97 Collingwood’s Theory of the Imagination ....................................................... 99 The Imagination as a Process ......................................................................... 103 Imagination, Aspect Perception and Conceptualization ................................. 105 Imagination, Creation and Art ......................................................................... 108 3.3 The Normative Dimensions of Collingwood’s Aesthetics ................................ 113 Good and Bad Art ............................................................................................ 114 The Corruption of Consciousness .................................................................... 118 The Dangers of Amusement ............................................................................. 125 4. OUTLINE OF A COLLINGWOODIAN VIRTUE AESTHETICS 4.1 Why Collingwood’s Theory of Art Suits a Virtue Approach ............................ 129 Why a Virtue Approach Fits Aesthetics ........................................................... 130 The Compatibility of Collingwood’s Aesthetics with Aristotle’s Approach to Ethics ........................................................................................... 132 4.2 Virtues Internal to Aesthetic Practices ............................................................... 137 Aesthetic Activity, Moral Character and Well-Being ...................................... 139 Aesthetic Virtue …………….....................................………………............... 144 Aesthetic Practical Wisdom ............................................................................. 146 Virtues of Creation ........................................................................................... 150 The Spectator’s Virtues of Reception …........................………..…................ 157 The Relation Between Aesthetic and Ethical Virtue ........................................ 164 4.3 Aesthetic Normativity ........................................................................................ 166 Judging Artworks ............................................................................................
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