Mark Windsor

Many of us count aesthetic experiences among the most rewarding experiences that we have. Some of the best novels or films give us a new perspective on our lives; we return to a favorite nature spot to recenter away from the stresses of the city. At the same time, almost anything can be an object of an aesthetically rewarding experience – the ambient sounds of the city coming through an open window, or the earthy smell of petrichor after rain. What makes experiences such as these aesthetically valuable? And how can we make sense of their diversity? Aesthetic Understanding as Value addresses these questions by developing an account of a distinctively experiential, aesthetic form of understanding one’s inner and outer world as a source of aesthetic value. It has three research objectives. First, it aims to develop an account of the nature of this aesthetic understanding, showing what makes it distinctively aesthetic; second, it aims to explain why this is valuable; and third, it aims to explicate and defend its constitutive relation with aesthetic value.