The coherent concept of psychical distance and the danger of neutrality

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

6 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

07/10/2009

Category :

Social studies

Sub category :

Psychology

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Summary :

Introduction
Criticisms of Bullough resolved with modal analysis
The positive aspect of psychical distance
Objection to Bullough
The philosophies of Dirk Vollenhoven and Herman
An example of the real problem
Cheetham's proposal
Conclusion
References

Abstract

In 1912, Edward Bullough published "'psychical distance' As a Factor in Art and as an Aesthetic Principle," a seminal article that permanently introduced "psychical distance" as a fundamental term for 20th Century aesthetic theory. A certain suspicion, however, has attended the term. Writers like George Dickie and Lester Longman have accused Bullough's idea of incoherence, deadly ambiguity, and arrogant over-extension. In this essay, I will try to demonstrate the falsehood of these accusations when 'psychical distance' is understand via the interpretive framework of modal analysis. Then, continuing with the modal perspective, I will show the real danger that attends the application of psychical distance by examining how one author uses it to postulate a religiously neutral human sphere.

The various criticisms of psychical distance levelled by George Dickie, Lester Longman, and Kingsley Price fall into three basic categories. First, Bullough is accused of claiming both a negative and a positive function for psychical distance but only describing its negative function; second, he is accused of false analysis, especially in regard to his use of the word "practical"; third, he is accused of linguistic ambiguity to the point of nonsense.