Critical Contextual Aestheticism

Abstract

In this paper I offer a way to reconcile ‘functionalist’ and ‘institutionalist’ definitions of art. Inspired by Helen Longino’s ‘critical contextual empiricism’, I argue that art arises from social epistemic procedures that encompass both aesthetic functions and institutional practices. Within these procedures, aesthetic functions are developed, validated, and enforced through institutional practices rather than being solely tied to the artistic outcomes of those practices. I call this approach ‘critical contextual aestheticism’