Cowen on aesthetics

There's an interesting article on George Mason University's economics program. I particularly liked this part with Tyler Cowen where he opines on his approach to art, and ultimately his thoughts on aesthetics. They basically became my own, weirdly enough, and I think it did start with getting the training in economics. Economics tends to make you focused on processes, but grounded in rationality and subjectivism. So, for theories of beauty, I have lately been more interested in why certain forms show up or disappear than I have been in trying to develop a theory of why certain forms are intrinsically better/worse. The former is more interesting to me these days. Besides, I think Cowen's right that we'll probably never answer the question of what makes something good.

"His goal, however, has never been to develop a theory of aesthetics, a way to separate the good from the bad. If someone offers a principle of aesthetics, he said, “I think it’s pretty much always wrong.”

“Aesthetics is a big mystery, and I try not to get too metaphysical about it. I just try to be practical, like ‘How can I enjoy this story?’ I think it’s a more useful question. But they ask, ‘What really makes this beautiful?’ I’m not sure we’ll ever answer that other question.”