2009•Oxford University Press eBooksRequires access
5. Artistic beauty
Roger Scruton
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Abstract
Only in the 19th century, did art replace natural beauty as the core subject-matter of aesthetics. Works of art have a dominant function. They are objects of aesthetic interest. They may fulfil this function in a rewarding way, offering food for thought and spiritual uplift, or in ways that are judged to be offensive or demeaning. Or they may fail altogether to prompt the aesthetic interest that they petition for. ‘Artistic beauty’ argues that genuine art creates a distance between us and the scenes that it portrays — not to prevent emotion, but to focus it, by directing attention towards the imaginary other, rather than the present self.