{ 1 } Toward a Science of Aesthetics issues and ideas Arthur P. Shimamura What happens when we experience a work of art? What does it mean to have an aesthetic experience? Can science help us derive general principles about aesthet- ics, or is there really “no accounting for taste”? Philosophers, psychologists, and recently neuroscientists have sought answers to these questions, with each group focused on speciic issues. In this volume, an interdisciplinary approach is ofered that draws on philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, and considers the feasibility of an integrative science of aesthetics. Historically, the term aesthetics has been linked to the way art evokes an emo- tional response. Alexander Baumgarten  coined the term in 1750 to advance his new philosophical approach, which was to study the “art of thinking beautifully” ( ars pulchre cogitandi). He argued that the appreciation of beauty is the endpoint of an aesthetic experience. People sense beauty in many things, from natural objects to skillful artworks, and aesthetics is the study of how the mind beholds beautiful objects. Baumgarten posited that certain physical properties of an object may evoke feelings of beauty, but the experience itself is purely a mindful event. Many contend that the sole purpose of art is to create objects that evoke feelings of beauty—that is, to instill an aesthetic response. Considering the many ways people experience art these days, Baumgarten’s deinition is certainly inadequate. Contemporary art critics and philosophers ind the term outdated and irrelevant to the way people experience art today (see Chapter 6). For now, rather than dispensing with the term, a broadening of it will be considered. Art can arouse our emotions in many ways—from beauty to anger to horror or disgust. It may pique our sensory processes through artistic balance and form, remind us of our own past, or force us to think about the world in new ways. Rather than considering the one and only aesthetic experience as that overwhelming sense of beauty people sometimes experience, perhaps while view- ing Michelangelo’s David or listening to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, there are various kinds of aesthetic experiences, even ones that may be more focused on perceptual or conceptual features. Some may wince at a deinition of aesthetics that is so broad that its experience is devoid of any emotional involvement. Indeed, it may be best to separate the notion of “aesthetics” from our experience with art 01-Shimamura_Chap-01.indd 3 01-Shimamura_Chap-01.indd 3 9/6/2011 3:16:01 PM 9/6/2011 3:16:01 PM Shimamura, A. P. (2012). In A. P. Shimamura & S. E. Palmer (Eds.), Aesthetic Science: Connecting Minds, Brains and Experiences (pp. 3-28), Oxford University Press. This file is for educational purposes, other use or dissemination of material is not permitted.