On the Possibility of Aesthetic Atheism: Philosophy and the Market in Art

What can we learn about art by analyzing the art market? The author offers a skeptical argument. Judgements of aesthetic value change with time. Since those changes reflect market value, perhaps we can show that aesthetic value is market value. The critic, we would then believe, seeks to persuade us that art has aesthetic value, for our beliefs about art’s value depend upon a consensus established in part by the critic. Recently some critics and philosophers have argued that the traditions of art are dead. The prospects for such an ‘aesthetic atheism’ in relation to this skeptical argument are discussed.