Aesthetic Encroachment, Metaphysics, Axiology, and Critical Practice

Description

I draw on recent metaphysical advancements as applied to axiology (i.e. value theory) in order to cast new light on the phenomenon of aesthetic encroachment—i.e. when considerations pertaining to e.g., epistemology or morality encroach upon the aesthetic. Doing so, I suggest, can help us come to grips with what is at issue in the debate between humanist, aestheticist, and transgressionalist responses to Plato’s challenge against the cognitive-cum-ethical value of Art. Such a metaphysical story, I further contend, can serve to enhance and nuance critical vocabulary even though, ultimately, any such metaphysical theorising must remain deferential to actual critical practice. I then apply insights from these considerations to two literary cases—Cormac McCarthy’s epic (anti-)Western Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West (1985) and Frank Miller’s Ronin (1983-84)—in order to exemplify the critical potential of the approach.

Period	2023 Feb 17
Event title	TfL-dagarna 2023: Litteratur och filosofi : Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap.
Event type	Conference
Location	Lund, SwedenShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National