Normative Criticism and the Objective Value of Artworks.

The central idea behind this essay is that at least some of the value of art is objective in nature and as a result, some of the evaluative judgments that critics make about art are true and have normative force over the judgments of others. That is, when critics say that a particular painting is a success or failure, or that a novel is profound or shallow they are, if only some of the time, saying something that others ought to agree with. My aim is to sketch a theory of artistic value that can make sense of this fact about critical judgments. Since the idea that the quality of art is purely subjective in nature is powerful in both academic and in popular circles, I will take it as a part of my task to explain why we must vindicate a conception of objective quality in art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]