Art and Experience, Utrecht, © 1996. All rights reserved

Aesthetic properties are represented tertiary qualities. For their perception we need perceptual or imaginative empathy. With this position I argue against Frank Sibley--who set the stage for the discussion about aesthetic properties--according to whom aesthetic property terms are descriptive if any terms are. They allegedly differ from more normal descriptive terms in that apart from normal perception they presuppose taste for their recognition. Zemach thinks aesthetic properties (which he identifies with tertiary qualities) are secondary qualities sifted through a set of desires; Wollheim thinks they are projective properties. (II:2-3, VII:8-9).