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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Unmasking the truth beneath the beauty : why the supposed aesthetic judgements made in science may not be aesthetic at all.
AU - Todd, Cain S.
N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 22 (1), 2008, © Informa Plc
PY - 2008/3
Y1 - 2008/3
N2 - In this paper I examine the status of putative aesthetic judgements in science and mathematics. I argue that if the judgements at issue are taken to be genuinely aesthetic they can be divided into two types, positing either a disjunction or connection between aesthetic and epistemic criteria in theory/proof assessment. I show that both types of claims face serious difficulties in explaining the purported role of aesthetic judgements in these areas. I claim that the best current explanation of this role, McAllister�s �aesthetic induction� model, fails to demonstrate that the judgements at issue are genuinely aesthetic. I argue that, in light of these considerations, there are strong reasons for suspecting that many, and perhaps all, of the supposedly aesthetic claims are not genuinely aesthetic at all but are in fact �masked� epistemic assessments.
AB - In this paper I examine the status of putative aesthetic judgements in science and mathematics. I argue that if the judgements at issue are taken to be genuinely aesthetic they can be divided into two types, positing either a disjunction or connection between aesthetic and epistemic criteria in theory/proof assessment. I show that both types of claims face serious difficulties in explaining the purported role of aesthetic judgements in these areas. I claim that the best current explanation of this role, McAllister�s �aesthetic induction� model, fails to demonstrate that the judgements at issue are genuinely aesthetic. I argue that, in light of these considerations, there are strong reasons for suspecting that many, and perhaps all, of the supposedly aesthetic claims are not genuinely aesthetic at all but are in fact �masked� epistemic assessments.
KW - aesthetic judgement
KW - science
KW - mathematics
KW - truth
KW - beauty
U2 - 10.1080/02698590802280910
DO - 10.1080/02698590802280910
M3 - Journal article
VL - 22
SP - 61
EP - 79
JO - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science
JF - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science
SN - 0269-8595
IS - 1
ER -