The Aesthetic Value of the World

Abstract

In The Aesthetic Value of the World, Tom Cochrane sets out to defend Aestheticism—the view that aesthetic value, and only aesthetic value, makes the world worthwhile. This is not, however, a book about the redemptive power of art. Another central claim of Aestheticism is that aesthetic value can be encountered literally anywhere—in the natural world, yes, but also in the most brutal and horrific aspects of the social world. The Aesthetic Value of the World is thus an ambitious book, one that does not simply urge us to reconsider the secondary status of aesthetics within value theory, but seeks to advance Aestheticism as a ‘philosophy of life’, one on par with ‘Stoicism, Epicureanism and Existentialism’ (p. xi). The rationale behind the first thesis of Aestheticism—that it is only aesthetic value that can answer the question ‘what, if anything, makes the universe a good one?’—appears in the book’s introduction. Here, aesthetic value is arrived at by a process of elimination. Unsurprisingly, pleasure is a non-starter. Perhaps more surprisingly, however, is the fact that moral value does no better. Why? Well, consider what it would look like to dedicate one’s life to moral value. Such a life, Cochrane supposes, would be dedicated to making the world a better place—it would be life animated by ‘the grand moral mission’ (p. 5). And yet, for all that would be good about such a life, it would still be plagued by deep existential problems. Neither the possibility nor existence of moral progress can explain why we are here or why there is something rather than nothing. Nor can it reconcile us to our ultimate insignificance in the grand scheme of things.