Michael writes: "a.e. is a term that embraces the responses to different WoA, and they themselves are segregated into their various different kinds, so we have the musical-a.e. and the painting-a.e. and the sculpture-a.e., and the literary-a.e., etc."
I'll make this observation and then set it aside to move on: Terms or words or "definite descriptions" etc don't embrace anything. They don't "refer to", denote, designate, apply to, name. They are inert, like ink on paper. (Granted, a given term will be associated by a given mind with some notion or other. But the next mind may associate it with something quite different. So it's minds that do the "pointing at", not the word.) Michael claims his "truth conditions" approach identifies what's a "work of art" and what not. I'll claim in a later posting that his approach does not work. This is critical, because Michael's argument entails that we can't identify a.e.'s until we can identify works of art. But I'll also momentarily set that aside and move on. Let's accept 'embrace', and ask: Is Michael saying his is an if-and-only-if statement? In other words, does the term 'aesthetic experience' embrace all and only the responses to "works of art"? Suppose someone says he gets an a.e. from contemplating a sunset or the ocean or an unfolding real-life drama? Would Michael say, "No, you don't?" But this would only prompt a, "Yes I do." "No, you don't." "Do!" "Don't!" Michael's claim is an arbitrary, unilateral assertion. Moreover, while almost everyone will accept that music yields an experience that we may call "by definition" a "music experience", why call it an "aesthetic experience"? What's at issue is whether or not we are ever justified in calling any experience "aesthetic". In pondering this, it will help if you keep clear the distinction between just agreeing to CALL something an "a.e." and asserting it IS an a.e.. ************** Worried about job security? Check out the 5 safest jobs in a recession. (http://jobs.aol.com/gallery/growing-job-industries?ncid=emlcntuscare00000002)
