Alain Locke's Value Theory and Pragmatist Defense of Beauty.

This essay explores Alain Locke's value theory in relation to his defense of beauty in the 1920's "beauty vs. propaganda" debate. Animated by a pragmatic commitment to resolving real-life value conflicts many theories of valuation—including those proposed by Ralph Barton Perry and John Dewey—explored the question of whether values can be formed beyond interest and whether they can be arranged in a single hierarchy and compared. Locke turned to transvaluation—changes in value category—as a potential resolution for real-life value conflicts. This essay examines how Locke's philosophical work as a value theorist can be brought in relation to his other forays into African American cultural politics: mainly his unremitting defense of beauty and cultural production even in the face of more urgent imperatives like civil and political rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]