A. Paskow, The paradoxes of art

Robert J. Dostal

pp. 455-458

in: Continental Philosophy Review 40 (4), 2007.

Abstract

Though the title suggests a phenomenological account of art and, in fact, has some important and insightful things to say about art, this work focuses primarily on the ontological status of “fictional beings” and the question of “representation” in art and in experience more generally. Paskow makes a case for a “realist” aesthetic. The first part of the book, which provides examples from literature and painting, culminates in a discussion of why fictional beings can be important to us. The second part of the book is almost exclusively devoted to a consideration of painting. It illustrates how a realist aesthetic can be brought to bear on painting and develops this aesthetic in relation to this particular art form. Throughout Paskow is concerned not only with what we should take art to be, but why it should matter to us.