Aesthetic Criteria

Abstract

Based on proposals from philosophical aesthetics and on preliminary research findings, this chapter suggests that listeners' aesthetic criteria for music will tend to include, but not be limited to, eight broad dimensions, each of which is discussed in turn. These include beauty, expression, novelty, emotion, skill, message, style, and the sublime. There is something to be said for each of these eight criterion candidates for aesthetic value: music lacking in expression is not art at all; music without beauty is not easy to like; music without novelty is not interesting; music without skills is mediocre; music that does not arouse emotions fails to produce embodied experiences; music that lacks stylistic unity is incoherent; music without a message or intention is empty; and music that is not sublime will not change your life. In contrast, music that manages to cover all these criteria is very likely to be judged as aesthetically valuable.