Hundred Mile Aesthetics

The main argument for the network theory of aesthetic value is that it better explains the facts about aesthetic activity than aesthetic hedonism. According to the network theory, an aesthetic value figures in a fact that lends weight to the proposition that it would be an aesthetic achievement for an agent to act in the context of an aesthetic practice. Each aesthetic practice has its own aesthetic profile, in which determinate aesthetic values are distinctively realized, and each has core aesthetic norms centred on its distinctive aesthetic profile. An account is given of the valence of aesthetic values. The theory explains why aesthetic experts disperse into almost all demographic niches, why they jointly inhabit the whole aesthetic universe, why they specialize by aesthetic domain, why they specialize by type of activity, why they specialize by activity and domain interacts, and why their expertise is rooted in relatively stable psychological traits.