Aesthetic Value: Why Pleasure Counts

In this brief contribution to a ten-author symposium on aesthetic value, I make the case for aesthetic hedonism. The aesthetic value of an object is a measure of the benefit that humans realize by cognitive engagement with it. This benefit depends on engaging with it in the right way, that is, in a way that objectively maximizes the benefit. Yet, it is also subjective and individual; the benefit of cognitive engagement with an object depends partially but irreducibly on the subject's receptivity. I argue that this combination of objectivity and subjectivity in aesthetic value is best explained by grounding it in pleasur