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I'm sorry, but your argument can be applied to everything. > You should care because (presumably) you don't want to be an ignorant person (as in, lacking knowl

I'm sorry, but your argument can be applied to everything. > You should care because (presumably) you don't want to be an ignorant person (as in, lacking knowledge). Everybody is ignorant about approximately everything. People may find me ignorant because I don't follow some celebrities, sports etc. We need to choose what we educate ourselves on. To me, it seems like you are making a social proof argument. Other people care about it, so I should care about it too, because otherwise I may be labeled as ignorant. But at the same time, I doubt that this is the kind of argument you want to make. I assume you have some stronger reasons. I like the monologue of Feynman about Beauty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRmbwczTC6E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRmbwczTC6E To me, aesthetics is more or less a curiosity. An aspect of our cognition, that is relevant only because it is a result of evolution, some kind of heuristics for dealing with the world. Would you agree with that kind of characterization?

keiferski 7y ago
Well I can only speak personally, but if I have a strong opinion on something, I prefer to be quite knowledgeable about the topic. Having public opinions on aesthetic matters while knowingly admitting ignorance seems pretty foolish and close-minded to me. And no I wouldn’t agree that aesthetics is a curiosity; I think it’s perhaps one of the most important topics there is. Wittgenstein, Nietzsche and countless others would agree.
- Isinlor 7y ago
  Well, I'm pretty happy to discount theology for example. My knowledge of the subject is rather small, but big enough that I'm aware that it is a very rich discipline of knowledge. As atheist/agnostic I just don't see any use for it. I'm reading "Wittgenstein’s Aesthetics" from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [0] and ... At least this summary doesn't peak my interest. Granted, I seem to have different opinions to Wittgenstein, but that's not the issue. The issue is that the arguments presented are, dare I say it, not aesthetically pleasing :) . > Wittgenstein, Nietzsche and countless others would agree. Again, proof from authority + social proof. I don't care how big their names are, or how many people believe it. So, I will end here. [0] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wittgenstein-aesthetics/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wittgenstein-aesthetics/

keiferski 7y ago

Well I can only speak personally, but if I have a strong opinion on something, I prefer to be quite knowledgeable about the topic. Having public opinions on aesthetic matters while knowingly admitting ignorance seems pretty foolish and close-minded to me. And no I wouldn’t agree that aesthetics is a curiosity; I think it’s perhaps one of the most important topics there is. Wittgenstein, Nietzsche and countless others would agree.

Isinlor 7y ago
Well, I'm pretty happy to discount theology for example. My knowledge of the subject is rather small, but big enough that I'm aware that it is a very rich discipline of knowledge. As atheist/agnostic I just don't see any use for it. I'm reading "Wittgenstein’s Aesthetics" from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [0] and ... At least this summary doesn't peak my interest. Granted, I seem to have different opinions to Wittgenstein, but that's not the issue. The issue is that the arguments presented are, dare I say it, not aesthetically pleasing :) . > Wittgenstein, Nietzsche and countless others would agree. Again, proof from authority + social proof. I don't care how big their names are, or how many people believe it. So, I will end here. [0] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wittgenstein-aesthetics/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wittgenstein-aesthetics/