A Critique of Emotivism in Aesthetic Accounts of Visual Art

Emotion in Painting and Art Installations

“…Critiques of excessive claims about some links between music and emotion have been published (Konečni, 2009(Konečni, , 2012a(Konečni, , 2012bZangwill, 2004). The present article is a substantial extension and elaboration of articles published in a general philosophy journal (Konečni, 2013a) and in the proceedings of a recent conference on empirical aesthetics (Konečni, 2014), the common purpose of which is to urge for a reevaluation of the status of emotion in the domain of painting.…”

“…In section II., a relatively commonly held psychobiological view of emotion is outlined and contrasted with some relevant alternative views, including those on aesthetic emotions. In section III., emotivism is defined as a contemporary proclivity for unwarranted insertion of emotion and feeling into accounts of mental life, needs, and motivation in daily behavior, in matters artistic and nonartistic (Bottum, 2000;Konečni, 2012bKonečni, , 2013a. 1 The apparent effects of this stance on concrete theoretical and research practice in psychological and philosophical aesthetics are described.…”

“…Writing about emotion in the domain of painting has occasionally led some aestheticians, art historians, critics, and artists to psychologically inaccurate (and sometimes "romanticizing") claims. A considered list of the commonly observed loci of "emotion" in painting was presented in previous articles (Konečni, 2013a(Konečni, , 2014. On this list, among other observations, are: The elevation of an occasionally expressed fundamental emotion by a painter to the status of a permanent personality trait (perhaps inherited) that influences artistic output; the idea that physical handicap, mental illness, and alcoholism inexorably drive the artist to a particular painterly expression; the insufficiently justified imputation of causal influence to stressful life events with regard to the type and quality of an artist's work (see Konečni, 2012a, for an analysis of this issue in music composers); and the discovery of "emotions," sometimes numerous ones, within a painting and semiarbitrary efforts to trace them to the artist's personality dispositions, acute life events, and the influence of particular locales or other artists.…”

Paintings and emotion: A nonemotivist reevaluation

“…Critical accounts regarding various aspects of the link between music and emotion have been proposed (e.g., Konečni, 2008aKonečni, , 2008b). The present article complements an earlier one (Konečni, 2013a) in extending the critique to the domain of paintings.…”

“…A detailed methodological critique of this work is available in Konečni (2013a), so that only a few remarks are in order. Evaluations of the "emotional" aspects of paintings were given by participants during exit interviews, long after viewing.…”