Jason Gaiger

Jason Gaiger

University Lecturer in Contemporary Art History and Theory, University of Oxford.

Visit Jason Gaiger’s website here.

Presentation:

Non-Conceptual Content and Artistic Activity
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
16:00-18:00 at Senate House, room G35

Abstract:

Recent debates on nonconceptual mental content have been addressed by philosophers working in the field of aesthetics, but for the most part interest has centred on the putatively non-conceptual character of aesthetic judgment. In this paper I examine whether these debates might also be relevant to understanding the nature of artistic activity, that is to say, the production rather than the reception of art. I do so by considering arguments put forward by the neo-Kantian philosopher Konrad Fiedler, who develops a cognitive theory of art on the basis of the claim that sensibility is a ‘spontaneous’ rather than merely receptive faculty.