Gaut's Argument

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In Gaut’s essay, “The Ethical Criticism of Art”, he addresses the relevance of an art piece’s ethical value when making an aesthetic evaluation. His key argument revolves around the attitudes that works of art manifest such that he presents the following summary “If a work manifests ethically reprehensible attitudes, it is to that extent aesthetically defective, and if a work manifests ethically commendable attitudes, it is to that extent aesthetically meritorious”. In direct contrast with formalists, who divine a work’s merit through an assessment of its style and compositional aspects, Gaut states that any art piece’s value requires a pro tanto judgement. This pro tanto position allows for pieces considered stylistic masterpieces, to be …show more content…

He clarifies his interpretation of aesthetic value, rejecting the traditionally narrow notions regarding beauty and composition, and expands his view to include insights and emotions expressed through the medium. Explaining that he views overall value as an all-things-considered judgement, he asserts the ethicist’s duty to contrast the aesthetic with the ethical and determine the extent to which one outweighs the other. Gaut calls on readers to defy the popular paradigm equating beauty with goodness and ugly with evil, allowing for great, yet flawed pieces of …show more content…

Paolo Schmidlin’s Miss Kity, a sculture of the pope in drag, is one example of a work that sheds light on the the hazy aspects of ethicism. Viewing the work as ethically immoral, the Catholic Anti-Defamation League ordered the piece removed from its museum in Milan, while others lauded it as ethically meritorious it for its role in bringing light to the practice of censorship by the Church. Another example includes Georgia O’Keefe’s black iris, simultaneously debased and commended for its allusion to female genitalia. While ethicism as presented by Gaut, in absolute terms, seems perfectly straightforward and logical, these additional examples provide the audience with more multi dimensional view of ethicism and its

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