A Relational Aesthetic

A Relational Aesthetic proposes a philosophy of aesthetics offering an alternative to classical aesthetics and the general course of aesthetics since Kant. Drawing on the insights of Harold H. Oliver’s seminal contributions toward a relational metaphysic, the author submits that immediate aesthetic experiencing, as contrasted with aesthetic derivatives (such as artist, artwork, aesthetic event, audience, epistemological objectives, and craft), provides a satisfactory metaphysical and ontological description of art. Major attention is given to Kant, Whitehead, Sherburne, Heidegger, Gadamer, and Dewey whose separate and collegial expositions are shown to lend themselves to a relational reading.