Getting into It

Abstract

The network theory of aesthetic value predicts that aesthetic value practices are plural. Values in plural practices differ yet are equally valid, incommensurable, noncompeting, and often to some degree mutually comprehensible. As a result, aesthetic value practices accommodate outsiders’ respect as well as insiders’ engagement. They are therefore well suited to meet a human need to come to terms with differences in value that do not threaten conflict. They invite benign exploration of value diversity; they invite ventures in aesthetic life. Although inegalitarian social forces undercut some of the promise of ventures in aesthetic life, we have tools to resist these forces.