4E Cognition and the Spectrum of Aesthetic Experience

Summary

A review of 4E (embodied, embedded, extended, enactive) approaches to art and aesthetic experience argues that extended mind analyses focusing on tool use miss important aspects. The authors develop an enactive, affordance-based approach, contending that multiple E's are needed to address the broad spectrum of aesthetic experiences across artistic genres. They conclude that no single set of principles can make sense of all art everywhere.

Study at a glance

Abstract

We review 4E (embodied, embedded, extended and enactive) approaches to the analysis of art and aesthetic experience. We argue that extended mind analyses that focus on tool use miss important aspects, and that it requires 4 or more E’s to address the broad spectrum of aesthetic experiences that correlate to the broad variety of artistic genres. We develop an enactive, affordance-based approach to understanding art and aesthetic experience. Considering both the potential and the limitations of any particular approach, we argue that there is no one unified set of principles that will make sense of all art everywhere.