Podcast — Episode 80
Aesthetics: A Conversation with Tyler Cowen
Today, a discussion with Tyler Cowen about aesthetics in general, and new aesthetics in particular!
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In This Episode
- (01:17) Aesthetics and the vision of the good life in politics and public affairs
- (03:20) Patrick Collison on ten important historical novels: the most popular literary critic of the year
- (07:02) Doubts about oversimplified left-brain / right-brain theories of knowledge
- (09:29) Understanding ‘what is’: proper nouns are underrated
- (11:09) In the Instagram era, is travel past its peak?
- (14:50) Consensus is possible amongst critics, against pure subjectivism
- (16:36) Is it worth trying to appreciate art forms that don’t naturally appeal to one’s taste?
- (18:50) Does newness rule in aesthetics? Popular music as evidence to the contrary
- (23:08) Henry Adams never listened to Jimi Hendrix
- (24:08) LLMs’ use of language creates the illusion of consciousness
- (26:33) A portfolio approach to aesthetic judgments; considering forgery and AI-generated pictures; famous forgers are overrated; the Haydn forgeries
- (29:20) Overrating the name of the artist; the worst Shakespeare plays
- (30:52) Neither “Wild Honey Pie” nor “Hello, Goodbye” are the worst Beatles songs; the synergy of John and Paul
- (34:16) Does the new Gilded Age compare unfavorably to the old Gilded Age in its impact on public space? New museums including the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art; the new art museum in Memphis, the Quai Branly; the National Museum of Qatar in Doha; the Museum of Art and Photography in Bengaluru
- (37:30) Reasons not to worry that new digital artworks won’t last very long in the grand sweep of history
- (38:24) Putting fears of obsolescence in perspective: how many people know all the Bach cantatas or Monteverdi madrigals?
- (39:30) About the New Aesthetics grants; the problem with contemporary architecture; reasons for optimism
- (42:57) Underrated artists: William Kentridge; David Hockney (really); the composer Robert Ashley