Aesthetic Educators, Aesthetic Experts, and Deferential Belief Formation

Is aesthetic deference ever rational? In this paper I argue that it can be. I defend aesthetic deference by means of a distinction between two kinds of aesthetic knowledge, predicative aesthetic knowledge and appreciative aesthetic knowledge. Whereas predicative aesthetic knowledge can be transmitted through deferential belief-formation, it is widely believed that appreciative aesthetic knowledge cannot. Building on this distinction and focusing on the relations between these two kinds of aesthetic knowledge I propose conditions under which aesthetic deference can be rational. Nonetheless, I suggest that there may be non-epistemic norms that undermine deferential aesthetic belief formation. In outlining the grounds for rational aesthetic deference, deference to aesthetic experts or educators becomes a possibility.