ABSTRACT
The evaluation or criticism of any work of art is a complex and difficult undertaking. The process of evaluation is complicated by the fact that art has a hedonic function besides a cognitive one. Even if we ignore art’s hedonic function, as I will, evaluation is a complicated matter. Since art criticism is so complex, philosophers can make only a modest contribution to questions about the values of artworks. Philosophy deals with general principles, but the evaluation of artworks is not simply a matter of applying general principles. Familiarity with a particular artform, its history and its techniques will often be of more use than philosophical principles in determining the value of an artwork. Nevertheless, philosophers can provide a few generally applicable criteria of aesthetic value. Most generally, good works of art are sources of valuable knowledge. At a bare minimum, they present right perspectives. More particularly, a few general points can be made about the ways in which good artworks are sources of knowledge.
