Berys Gaut

Berys Gaut is a British philosopher at the University of St Andrews working in aesthetics, the philosophy of film and the philosophy of creativity. He is best known for ethicism, the view that the ethical qualities of a work of art bear on its aesthetic value: a work that manifests ethically objectionable attitudes is, to that extent, aesthetically flawed. He defends the view against autonomist and contextualist rivals, while allowing that other merits may outweigh such flaws.

Key ideas

• Ethical defects in the attitudes a work manifests are, to that extent, aesthetic defects.
• Ethical merits in such attitudes are, to that extent, aesthetic merits.
• The principle is pro tanto: other aesthetic qualities can outweigh ethical flaws.
• Cinema is a distinctive art form with its own aesthetic questions.

Major works

• Art, Emotion and Ethics (2007)
• A Philosophy of Cinematic Art (2010)

In the conversation

• Debate When we refuse to imagine that cruelty is admirable, the failure is the work’s, not ours Alistair Gow · 5 replies
• Question Is a brilliantly made propaganda film a great film, or only a skilful one? Sana Rizvi · 5 replies