ABSTRACT
We have considered in general the various explanations that might be offered for the value we attach to art. One conclusion to emerge is that different explanations allow us to attribute different degrees of value to art. If we think of art in one way – as a source of pleasure for instance – we will have reason to value it differently than if we think of it in another – as a play of beautiful symbols, a source of emotional stimulation, or as a form of imaginative understanding. That different explanations generate different degrees of value allows us to adjudicate between them. Some will explain better than others both the social status of art and the discriminations we make between works.
