Art, Education, and the Democratic Commitment: A Defense of State Support for the Arts

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This book offers a comprehensive and novel argument in favor of subsidizing the arts. For readers already in favor of subsidy, the book offers a distinctly political rationale for government support: engaging the arts helps develop the intellectual faculties of judgment. By appealing to art’s instrumental ability to educate democratic citizens, the book avoids the most common criticisms of subsidy, namely that it is elitist and paternalistic. For those who oppose subsidy or are undecided, the book injects new ideas into the debate and maps arts subsidy onto the larger landscape of political liberalism. Yet, while using political liberalism as its point of departure, the book’s positive argument for subsidy draws on numerous philosophical traditions, including continental philosophy and the philosophy of art. This multi-disciplinary approach gives the book a comprehensiveness not found in purely analytical treatments of the topic. The book is accessible, and should serve a variety of readers, including political philosophers, philosophers of art, art historians, policy makers, and practising artists interested in the subsidy issue.