The Double Existence Of A Work Of Art: Monroe C. Beardsley's Theory On The Independent Aesthetic Value Of Art.

"The end of art" is a haunting phantom in the field of contemporary Aesthetics and Art. By putting forward this proposition, Hegel indicates the incompetence of Art as an aesthetic method to reveal Absolute Spirit, which used to be the End of art, but has long been lost and carried on by philosophical and religious reflections. Gradually this "end of art" takes on another sense:the end of the Idea of Art, especially in the context of analytic aesthetics in the 20th century, when many aestheticians have abandoned the inquiry of artistic nature from the absolute point of view, and turned from the traditional "Idea of Art" to historical ideas of Art. Art is thus mostly deconstructed, regarded as "a word with open texture" and a process with a rich diversity, which should not be restrained in a closed concept.Confronted with the state of chaos caused by this whole openness and tolerance of artistic diversity, Monroe C. Beardsley's aesthetic theory serves as a corrective balance in the conflict of construction and deconstruction of the concept of Art. On one hand, he insists that in aesthetic experience we should only let the work of art itself be the dominant entity and absolute focus, getting rid of further reference of artistic style or class; on the other hand, he has strong belief in artistic nature and the objective criterion of art critique. The key point in his discussion of the aesthetic and objective character of Art, also being the basis of his aesthetic theory, is the independent and intrinsic value of art, and that a work of art as an aesthetic object is phenomenally objective. This judgment is guaranteed by his fundamental distinction that a work of art is an entity which is both perceptual and physical. The aesthetic value of a work of art lies in its perceptual qualities, which in fact is based on, and carried out by its physical basis, the real evidence of its existence. Thus the unity of perceptual and physical existence, i.e. the work of art, holds the aesthetic and objective characters firmly together. Consequently, Beardsley's attitude towards works of art also generates a new theory of aesthetic experience:the intercourse, or the encounter of the subject and object which are both present in aesthetic experience.