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November 07, 2022

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Rob van Gerwen
'Aesthetic Argument and Tertiary Qualities'

Summary

I propose to distinguish between objective and experiential properties of things and events in the world. For the awareness of objective properties, which include what are traditionally taken as primary and secondary qualities, one or more of the senses should suffice. The data produced in these senses tell us what these things are like phenomenally, and in qualified ways also prove these properties' existence in the world. Consequently we must be realist about these properties. We must, however, be anti-realist about the experiential dimension of objects and events. For reason of the traditional distinction I propose we call these experiential aspects tertiary qualities, and define them as the object of empathic imagination. Tertiary qualities seem of ethical relevance when judged in relation to some concept of the good life. They are aesthetic if the power with which they animate our empathy is being judged by taste.

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The investigations were supported by the Foundation for Philosophical Research (SWON), which is subsidized by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

© Rob van Gerwen