Aesthetics and the Sciences of Mind

Abstract

Several current views of aesthetic experience and appreciation propose that these activities involve second-order awareness of one's own mental states or processes. Psychological research over the last several decades, on the other hand, raises serious questions about the viability of second-order awareness of mental processes. In this paper, Irvin enumerates the problems that this research raises for accounts of aesthetic experience and appreciation, and explores the prospects for solving these problems. She proposes an account of three related notions-aesthetic experience, (mere) aesthetic appreciation, and deep aesthetic appreciation-in light of the empirical findings.