Comparing Artistic Values: The Example of Movies

Abstract

Analytic art philosophers suggest that artworks carry independently valuable properties that can be rated. However, they point out that since these properties are incommensurable, one cannot infer the overall value of works in order to compare them. We show how weights can be retrieved from observations in which art critics or experts rate properties, as well as the overall value of works. This will also make clear that experts do indeed implicitly use such weights. We illustrate the idea using movies for which we do observe both a rating of total value and the ratings of a certain number of properties, focusing on the 270 movies, both nominated and having been awarded the Oscar for “Best Picture” between 1950 and 2003.

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