What makes the emotion of being moved an aesthetic emotion?

Abstract

This thesis investigates the nature of being moved as an aesthetic emotion. Although being moved is frequently regarded as an aesthetic emotion, the grounds for this classification have rarely been fully explained. Drawing on the accounts of Florian Cova and Julien Deonna (2014) and Winfried Menninghaus et al. (2018), I argue that truthfulness functions as a central evaluative concern in experiences of being moved by artworks. By truthfulness, I mean the evaluative concern through which appreciators assess how artworks disclose and embody meaningful human concerns through artistic organization. To develop this claim, I introduce the concept of aesthetic transparency as an aesthetic virtue related to experiences of being moved, understood as the capacity of artworks to make complex or conflicting aspects of human experience intelligible through honest realization and faithful realization. Finally, I address several potential objections to this account, including sappy film cases, conceptual conflation, and the concern that my account over-intellectualizes experiences of being moved.