ABSTRACT
Judging by some of the language used in the roundtable discussion convened at the end of the “Re-Discovering Aesthetics” conference to explore the relationship between aesthetics and art history, I would have to say the relationship seems rather strained. There was talk of disconnection (between the two disciplines, imagined to occupy different “patches”), or use (of art history by aesthetics, or was it the other way around?), or dissolution (of the concepts of aesthetics by art history). Even the talk of a confluence of the two fields, though intended to be positive, still sounds forced. If I were a marriage counselor examining this language, I’d likely recommend that the parties see a divorce lawyer. Instead of taking such a dramatic step, however, I’d rather reexamine this language and propose a (tenth) model for the aesthetics/art history relationship based on the working relationship between the philosophy and history of science, two disciplines that in many universities around the world enjoy a civil union, if not a sanctioned marriage.
