First Question on Danto

Can we still appreciate art if we just perceive it and not conceive of it?


I myself find no issue with this notion.  I don't find anything wrong with a person looking at a piece of art, having no prior conception of it, and thus making a judgement and having some sort of aesthetic appeal, and then moving on from that piece of art.  Art, be it visual art, literature, music, what have you is meant to be viewed or whatever by an audience and be received and judged when seen/heard.  There are even certain types of art that are just made for people to observe and make a solid judgement then and there.  Now, whether having conception makes it so we have a greater experience is a different argument all together.

In regards to perception without conception, perhaps it may be "blind", but I don't see anything wrong with it.  People go day by day, observing phenomena around them and having aesthetic reactions to them all the time.  Doing this with artworks is no different, however, some might argue that art is a different case.  Some might say that because they are artworks, we must take more time and effort to understand them and look into them, so as to have a greater experience wrought from them, which is a valid argument, but I feel that we cannot condemn those and be lowly elitists simply because one wishes to view a piece of art for the first time on a whim and that time only.  Let us take up our perception with conception among our peers, and let those others who would do otherwise do so themselves, for they are just as much appreciators of art as we are.