• Log In

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

A Philosophy Podcast and Philosophy Blog

Subscribe on Android Spotify Google Podcasts audible patreon
  • Home
  • Podcast
    • PEL Network Episodes
    • Publicly Available PEL Episodes
    • Paywalled and Ad-Free Episodes
    • PEL Episodes by Topic
    • Nightcap
    • Philosophy vs. Improv
    • Pretty Much Pop
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • (sub)Text
    • Phi Fic Podcast
    • Combat & Classics
    • Constellary Tales
  • Blog
  • About
    • PEL FAQ
    • Meet PEL
    • About Pretty Much Pop
    • Philosophy vs. Improv
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • Meet Phi Fic
    • Listener Feedback
    • Links
  • Join
    • Become a Citizen
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Log In
  • Donate
  • Store
    • Episodes
    • Swag
    • Everything Else
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account
  • Contact
  • Mailing List

PREVIEW-Episode 77: Santayana on the Appreciation of Beauty

June 9, 2013 by Mark Linsenmayer 21 Comments

http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/partiallyexaminedlife/PREVIEW-PEL_ep_077_5-16-13.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:53 — 27.4MB)

This is a short preview of the full episode.

Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more causally.

On George Santayana's The Sense of Beauty (1896).

What are we saying when we call something "beautiful?" Are we pointing out an objective quality that other people (anyone?) can ferret out, or just essentially saying "yay!" without any logic necessarily behind our exclamation? The poet and philosopher Santayana thought that while aesthetic appreciation is an immediate experience--we don't "infer" the beauty of something by recognizing some natural qualities that it has--we can nonetheless analyze the experience after the fact to uncover a number of grounds on which we might appreciate something. He divides these into areas of matter (e.g. the pretty color or texture), form (the relations between perceived parts), and expression (what external to the work itself does it bring to mind?) and ends up being able to distinguish high art (form-centric) from more savage forms (centered on matter or expression) while distinguishing real appreciation (which can include any of the three elements) from mere pretension (when you don't really have an immediate experience at all but merely recognize that you're supposed to think that this is good).

The regular foursome talk through Santayana's theory with regard to expressionist painting, rock 'n roll, beautiful landscapes, abstract expressionism, and more. Read more about the topic and get the book.

Looking for the full Citizen version?

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Filed Under: Podcast Episodes Tagged With: aesthetics, beauty, George Santayana, philosophy of art, philosophy podcast

Comments

  1. dmf says

    June 10, 2013 at 6:59 am

    might be interesting at some point to look at Wittgenstein’s similar critique of functionalist reductions in his work against Frazer and Freud (and to look at Freud on sublimation) to see if there is something like a naturalist sense of soul/psyche that isn’t found in most modern evolutionary psychologies but still holds up as realistic.

    Reply
    • dmf says

      June 10, 2013 at 8:34 am

      http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/philosophy/_people/_lachsinterview.html

      Reply
  2. dmf says

    June 10, 2013 at 7:44 am

    http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm

    Reply
  3. Tammy says

    June 10, 2013 at 1:05 pm

    Hey, guys, this is a great discussion and I’m enjoying it so much that I’m on my third round without completion!

    Mark, I’m on board with you in regards to music at 32:00 minutes into the podcast and have often thought, waaayyyyy after the fact of posting a song I perhaps should have looked-up all the songs on the album along with lyrics (which I now do) before spontaneity comes back to haunt me!

    There was one occasion while working at a center with children during clean-up I said “turn that up” to a colleague–who is much younger than I, has a degree in music with an understanding of pop song lyric meaning–started laughing and changed the station, privately enlightening me about what the lyrics meant! Still, it was a learning experience I still laugh about it to this day.

    That said, when first reading D&R I thought of The Police’s album Zenyatta Mondatta; the beginning of the song “Voices Inside My Head,” as an acoustic representation of what Difference and Repetition might sound like, while simultaneously responding to a comment re synchronicity AND(talk about multitasking) having fun with my son who likes the song “Canary in a Coalmine.”

    All this to say, I like what you added to the podcast about music and lyrics.

    Reply
  4. Tammy says

    June 10, 2013 at 3:42 pm

    Very enjoyable podcast. Not much to say other than it is a podcast I will enjoy sharing.

    Reply
  5. eric says

    June 11, 2013 at 5:25 pm

    god bless, I thought you producers of the show were suffering the moya-moya syndrome lately…

    Reply
  6. Waightstill Avery says

    June 13, 2013 at 4:14 pm

    Hey, I wasn’t sure who to email but I’m interested in helping record music with you! I can sing, play guitar, drums, bass and keyboard/sounds and I’m getting better at mixing. Please listen to some of my songs at the following page:

    https://soundcloud.com/waightstillavery

    Reply
  7. Caleb says

    June 15, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    ‘Cookie Monster’ music fan here, and Avenged Sevenfold has more meaning in its lyrics than most pop celebrities. That and the vocals are beautiful! 😀

    Reply
    • Tobi says

      February 1, 2014 at 9:54 pm

      But Avenged Sevenfold isn’t exactly the “Cookie Monster” vocal type, even though I agree that metal (even the cookie monster variety) is embedded with more meaning than most pop music.

      Reply
  8. Tammy says

    June 21, 2013 at 1:56 pm

    I’ve listened for a third time, and I hope to be able to share what perhaps is insight into Santayana’s understanding of the truth(s) found in art. To be sure, I share his thinking of form because, as mentioned in the podcast, he has a Catholic background.

    Form is not something I comprehended in depth until I had a deeper understanding of the difference between sacrament and sacramental in Catholic thinking—a sacrament requires both valid matter and valid form—art can be experienced as both sacrament and sacramental regardless of a person’s religion or non-religion.

    I’m not privatizing a specific philosophy of religion, more hoping to add something from my own studies I came across last summer thinking with Herbert Marcuse (the negative function of art) re music, art, and beauty.

    The original definition of catechism is derived from ecclesiastical Greek, from katēkhizein (see catechize). According to a Wiki (catechism) “A catechism from kata = “down” + echein = “to sound”, literally “to sound down” (into the ears), is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of Christian children and adult converts, from New Testament times to the present.[1] Catechisms are doctrinal manuals often in the form of questions followed by answers to be memorized, a format that has been used in non-religious or secular contexts as well.”

    I mention the above because of Mark and Seth fleshing out what validates one person’s experience from another’s. Mark mentioned recognizing a beat or rhythm listening to a piece of music, as recognizing an underling form [paraphrasing] and thought this might add/be of interest to Santayana on the Appreciation of Beauty podcast.

    Reply
  9. Craig says

    July 3, 2013 at 3:37 pm

    I really enjoyed this podcast. I had never heard of Santayana and will admit that I listened to this episode without first doing the reading, but now I’m going to go back and read up on him some more. His thought is very much in line with many others that I enjoy and look forward to exploring his ideas further. Thanks for introducing him to me.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Why can’t life always be beautiful? | The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast | A Philosophy Podcast and Blog says:
    June 16, 2013 at 11:43 pm

    […] of taste,” whereby they seem more sensitive to beauty than most. In light of the recent Santayana episode and my current Aesthetics discussion group, I’d like to address three particular issues […]

    Reply
  2. Good Taste > Poor Taste > Pretension | Person: Getorix says:
    June 17, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    […] Poor Taste > Pretension”>Good Taste > Poor Taste > Pretension […]

    Reply
  3. Notable readings of the day 06/27/2013 | "What Are You Sinking About?" says:
    June 27, 2013 at 11:19 pm

    […] Partially Examined Life Ep. 77: Santayana on Beauty | The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast… […]

    Reply
  4. Santayana on the Sublime: It’s Not About Aesthetically Appreciating Evil | The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast | A Philosophy Podcast and Blog says:
    June 29, 2013 at 10:07 am

    […] the end of the Santayana episode, I brought up his condemnation of any theory that would call the non-beautiful an object of […]

    Reply
  5. Topic for #77: Santayana on the Appreciation of Beauty | The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast | A Philosophy Podcast and Blog says:
    July 10, 2013 at 9:54 am

    […] Listen to the episode. […]

    Reply
  6. Speaking Across History: Two Models of Reading | The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast | A Philosophy Podcast and Blog says:
    July 18, 2013 at 11:18 am

    […] with this position as a variation of my too-repeatedly-iterated musical open-mindedness: as Santayana said, the quality of a work should be judged by the power and character of the love for it that its […]

    Reply
  7. Musical Taste and Conversion Therapy | The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast | A Philosophy Podcast and Blog says:
    July 22, 2013 at 11:30 am

    […] our Santayana episode, I got another challenge to my non-theory here: Santayana agrees with me that appreciation of a […]

    Reply
  8. PrĂłximamente: Manuel BermĂșdez sobre George Santayana | FilosofiPods says:
    September 23, 2013 at 10:56 am

    […] Partially Examined Life: Santayana on the Appreciation of Beauty. […]

    Reply
  9. Manuel BermĂșdez sobre George Santayana | FilosofiPods says:
    October 21, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    […] Partially Examined Life: Santayana on the Appreciation of Beauty. […]

    Reply
  10. Philosophy of Humor (Philosophical Issues Related to the #thatasshole Campaign, Part 1) | The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast | A Philosophy Podcast and Blog says:
    October 31, 2017 at 7:01 am

    […] If you've listened to most any of PEL's aesthetics episodes (the best is our first on Danto, with #77 on Santayana coming in at a close second), you'll know about my fetish for aesthetic flexibility: You have the […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

PEL Live Show 2023

Brothers K Live Show

Citizenship has its Benefits

Become a PEL Citizen
Become a PEL Citizen, and get access to all paywalled episodes, early and ad-free, including exclusive Part 2's for episodes starting September 2020; our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more causally; a community of fellow learners, and more.

Rate and Review

Nightcap

Listen to Nightcap
On Nightcap, listen to the guys respond to listener email and chat more casually about their lives, the making of the show, current events and politics, and anything else that happens to come up.

Subscribe to Email Updates

Select list(s):

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Support PEL

Buy stuff through Amazon and send a few shekels our way at no extra cost to you.

Tweets by PartiallyExLife

Recent Comments

  • Bibliophile on Pretty Much Pop #143: Pinocchio the Unfilmable (Yet Frequently Filmed)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 302: Erasmus Praises Foolishness (Part Two)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 308: Moore’s Proof of Mind-Independent Reality (Part Two for Supporters)
  • Mark Linsenmayer on Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Citizen Edition)
  • MartinK on Ep. 201: Marcus Aurelius’s Stoicism with Ryan Holiday (Citizen Edition)

About The Partially Examined Life

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

Become a PEL Citizen!

As a PEL Citizen, you’ll have access to a private social community of philosophers, thinkers, and other partial examiners where you can join or initiate discussion groups dedicated to particular readings, participate in lively forums, arrange online meet-ups for impromptu seminars, and more. PEL Citizens also have free access to podcast transcripts, guided readings, episode guides, PEL music, and other citizen-exclusive material. Click here to join.

Blog Post Categories

  • (sub)Text
  • Aftershow
  • Announcements
  • Audiobook
  • Book Excerpts
  • Citizen Content
  • Citizen Document
  • Citizen News
  • Close Reading
  • Combat and Classics
  • Constellary Tales
  • Exclude from Newsletter
  • Featured Ad-Free
  • Featured Article
  • General Announcements
  • Interview
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Misc. Philosophical Musings
  • Nakedly Examined Music Podcast
  • Nakedly Self-Examined Music
  • NEM Bonus
  • Not School Recording
  • Not School Report
  • Other (i.e. Lesser) Podcasts
  • PEL Music
  • PEL Nightcap
  • PEL's Notes
  • Personal Philosophies
  • Phi Fic Podcast
  • Philosophy vs. Improv
  • Podcast Episode (Citizen)
  • Podcast Episodes
  • Pretty Much Pop
  • Reviewage
  • Song Self-Exam
  • Supporter Exclusive
  • Things to Watch
  • Vintage Episode (Citizen)
  • Web Detritus

Follow:

Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Apple Podcasts

Copyright © 2009 - 2023 · The Partially Examined Life, LLC. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy ·Â Terms of Use ·Â Copyright Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in