Value of Art

A plausible way of conceiving of artistic value emerges from two considerations, the first concerning the importance of understanding a work for the viability of a verdict on its artistic value that rests on that understanding, the second concerning the way in which works of art matter to us when we value them as art. The first consideration is that whether there is just one correct and complete understanding of a work or many, a verdict on a work's artistic value is insecure unless it is based on a correct understanding of the work. In other words, the fact that you do not properly understand a work undermines the authority of your evaluation. The second consideration is that when we value a work of art as a work of art we value it on account of what it provides us with in the experience of it, rather than for something it achieves by means of our interaction with it. Artistic value thereby contrasts with medicinal value, for example. The medicinal value of a drug is determined not by the nature of the experience of taking it but by the beneficial or harmful effects that it has on our health. But a work's artistic value is dependent on nothing other than the nature of the experience involved in the appreciation of it. Putting these two thoughts together, the natural way to think of the artistic value of a work of art is as the intrinsic value of the kind of experience someone has when they experience the work with understanding. A work is valuable as art to the degree that the experience it offers is valuable, not in virtue of any beneficial effects it might bring about, but in itself. What directly determines the artistic value of a work is not the values that are realised in the various effects of the experience, but those that are realised in the experience. A fine work of art is its own reward - it rewards in the very experience of it. The suitability of a work, when experienced with understanding, to reward the reader, spectator or audience, and the nature of the rewards on offer, determine the artistic value of the work. If the work is such that it merits being found intrinsically rewarding to experience with understanding, then the experience it offers is intrinsically valuable and, accordingly, the work is valuable as art.