Abstract
In this article, I defend the cognitive value of certain generic television series. Unlike media and television scholars, who have been appreciative of the informative capacity of television ...fiction, philosophers have been less willing to acknowledge the way in which these works contribute to our understanding of our social reality. My aim here is to provide one such account, grounded in aesthetic cognitivism, that is, the view that fiction is a source of knowledge. Focusing on crime and courtroom dramas, I start by offering some examples of the cognitive benefits available in some of these series and I argue that the more beneficial cases establish superior mimetic relations with reality, enhancing their capacity to present ethically challenging issues. I then examine whether the fictional dimension of these works presents an obstacle to their informative potential and I conclude that it does not. A central aspect of my account is the claim that the degree of cognitive benefit depends on the underlying narrative strategy of the series. Specifically, there are clues in any given show, including the treatment of ongoing characters, which signal the extent to which it can be taken as mimetically reliable and thus, cognitively valuable. I complete my account by addressing anti-cognitivists’ arguments which call to doubt the informative aspect of television series and their capacity to address ethical concerns.
My aim in this paper is to explore the appeal of contemporary television serial drama. I argue that there are four main aspects of serials that inspire viewers’ interest and long-term commitment: ...serials’ overall aesthetics, its narrative complexity, strong emotional pull and serious mimetic aspect. I analyse each of these and I show how each stimulates our more general interests and emotional dispositions, primarily those related to aesthetic reward, intellectual challenge, moral clarity and entertainment. My analysis shows how these four elements unite and how their union inspires and maintains viewers’ long-term commitment to the show. In the process, I explore viewers’ emotional engagement with the characters, suggesting it is of secondary importance for their long-term commitment to the show. This commitment, I argue, is motivated by viewers’ sense of care for the work developed in response to its repeated providing of pleasurable stimuli.
Abstract
This article lies at the intersection of two problems: the one concerning the potential of fictional works to inform us about our social reality and foster our understanding of its various ...aspects, and the one concerning their potential to engage with philosophical issues. I bring these two together by analyzing the hit television series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. According to my interpretation, the series is informative about our social world, and it raises philosophical concerns about it. This makes it well-equipped to fulfill the educative function attributed to mass art by Noël Carroll, and to stand out as an example of what he calls popular philosophy. To support this interpretation, I rely on contemporary views regarding the nature of our engagements with fictional narratives. I then explore how philosophical concerns are generated and I elaborate on the role they have in deepening one’s understanding of one’s social circumstances. I further show how the series provides innovative and independent philosophical knowledge by means specific to the medium of generic serialized fiction. The central part of my argument is an analysis of the narrative strategies which enable the informative and philosophical aspects of the series to generate the series’ educative function.
Contemporary debates within analytic philosophy regarding the relation between literature and philosophy focus on the capacity of some literary works to engage with philosophical problems. While some ...philosophers see literature as a welcome contribution to philosophy, or as an alternative to pursuing philosophical questions, some are more sceptical with respect to its capacity to tackle philosophical concerns. As a contribution to this debate, in this paper I look at similarities and dissimilarities between the two practices, with the aim of mitigating some views which see them as too diverse to allow for literary treatment of philosophical issues. As points of contact, I focus on the shared thematic concerns of the two practices, i.e. on the fact that literature and philosophy both deal with issues that humans generally care for. I argue that both practices, despite the stylistic, linguistic and methodological differences in their approach, manage to fulfil ‘the recognition requirement’, namely, recognize and engage with those issues, situations and context of human predicament in the world which are in need of intellectual refinement. I then move on to dismiss arguments which purport to discredit literary treatments of philosophy on the basis of literature’s alleged subjectivity and emotional dimension, which are contrasted with philosophical objectivity and rationality. I end by emphasizing the impact of academic constraints on professional philosophy, in order to suggest that pursuing philosophical concerns is not an invention of the practice, but a natural inclination of reflective, inquisitive human mind.
As numerous scholars pointed out, Kant’s account of genius suffers from internal inconsistency, primarily due to the contradictory way in which Kant talks about the relation between imagination and ...taste in artistic production. What remains unclear is whether taste and genius work in concord in order to produce beautiful art, or whether one or the other takes charge. In this paper I look at this challenge, and I offer an interpretation of how Kant conceives of genius. I argue that the gift of genius is multi-componential, including the capacity to maximize imagination’s productivity as well as the capacity to develop taste to the point where one can extract the rules for art production, internalize them and implement them in one’s own original and exemplary artistic production. By analyzing specific claims Kant makes in relation to beautiful art, primarily his account of poetry, I extrapolate further aspects of artistic genius, which relate to his capacity to create artworks imbued with moral and cognitive significance, and which enable the awakening of genius in other artists.
This paper critically examines James Harold’s book Dangerous Art: On Moral Criticism of Artworks. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020, 206 pp. ISBN 978-0197519769.
Kant on Poetry and Cognition Jovanovic, Iris Vidmar
The Journal of aesthetic education,
04/2020, Letnik:
54, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This paper lies at the intersection of two problems: one concerning the cognitive status of poetry and one concerning the proper interpretation of Kant’s theory of fine arts. I bring these two ...together by arguing that Kant was highly sensitive to the cognitive potential of poetry, despite his explicit endorsement of formalism. Therefore, turning to his theory can help us understand one particular way in which poetry fosters our cognitive engagements with the world. As an illustration of my account of Kant’s views on poetry, I offer an interpretation of Robert Frost’s poem “A Question.”
Tv series and their boundaries Vidmar Jovanović, Iris
Rivista di estetica,
01/2020, Letnik:
73, Številka:
73
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In this paper I follow Ted Nannicelli in the project of establishing boundaries of television works. I focus on serialized television works pertaining to a particular genre and I set out to provide ...an account of their identity. My claim is that external identity of such works is determined by their specific genre-affiliation, given the way in which generic norms determine the content of the series, namely, its characteristic storylines and regular set of characters. From the internal perspective, a series’ identity is determined by the particular way in which it implements abstract generic norms. I describe the process of such implementation as creation of series-specific formulaic patterns, and I analyze different layers of works where such patterns are evident. My central claim is that series-specific formulaic patterns create a coherent set of norms which, through repeated instantiation in the series’ episodes, become associated with that particular series. The function of this set is to establish the series’ boundaries, and to maintain its identity when different modifications to the patterns are made.
U ovom radu bavim se pitanjem angažirane filozofije s naglaskom na estetiku i filozofiju umjetnosti. Pozivajući se na neke konkretne probleme o kojima se raspravlja unutar ovih domena – napose ...problem klimatskih promjena, ekološke krize i nemoralne umjetnosti – pokazujem da filozofija može biti angažirana na dva načina: (i) u svojoj težnji za propitkivanjem društvene zbilje, kulture, ljudskog iskustva i strategija koje čovjek koristi da bi u tom iskustvu uvidio smisao i vrijednosti; (ii) u težnji da kroz svoj doprinos razumijevanju takve zbilje i tog iskustva doprinese boljitku pojedinca i društva. Rad započinjem ukazujući na povezanost filozofskih pitanja i osnovnih intelektualnih težnji čovjeka kao društvenog i kulturnog bića, ali i autonomnog spoznavatelja i vrednovatelja. U drugom dijelu odgovaram na dva prigovora koja se mogu uputiti angažiranoj filozofiji: (i) prigovoru koji ukazuje na nedostatak konsenzusa među filozofskim odgovorima (problem neslaganja) i (ii) prigovoru koji ističe irelevantnost filozofskih debata za naše društvene prakse.
In this paper, I address the question of engaged philosophy with an emphasis on aesthetics and the philosophy of art. Referring to some specific problems discussed in these areas – in particular climate change, ecological crisis and immoral art – I demonstrate that philosophy can be engaged in two ways: (i) in its aspiration to question social reality, culture, human experience and the strategies for making sense of and finding value in that experience; (ii) in the aspiration to contribute to the well-being of individuals and society through its contribution to understanding that reality and experience. First, I point to the connection between the philosophical questions and the fundamental intellectual aspirations of human beings as social and cultural beings, but also as autonomous knowers and valuers. Second, I respond to two objections that can be directed against engaged philosophy: (i) one that points to a lack of consensus among philosophical responses (the problem of disagreement), and (ii) one that highlights the irrelevance of philosophical debates to our social practice.
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