著者

郡田 尚子

出版者

美学会

雑誌

美學 (ISSN:05200962)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.60, no.1, pp.85-97, 2009-06-30

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"Psychical Distance" as a Factor in Art and an Aesthetic Principle' (1912) is a thesis on the subject of aesthetics and art written by Edward Bullough (1880-1934). Using the term 'Psychical Distance', he showed that the states of aesthetic appreciation and artistic production stood outside the context of our personal needs and ends. According to Bullough, this distance lies between the self and affections or objects as the sources of those affections. This paper will attempt to make his concept of 'Psychical Distance' clearer. Several studies have been made on the definition and validity of 'Psychical Distance'. Those studies assert that it's a psychical act or a set of properties of objects projected from subjective impressions. 'Psychical Distance' is variable both according to the distancing-power of the individual, and according to the character of the object. It is this interplay that makes it possible to take the concept of 'Psychical Distance' both as an act and as properties. Its interplay can also apply to the personal and the social factors in the history of Art. Bullough accounted for the contrary theories of Art by using 'Psychical Distance'. This concept has the capacity to extend over the various forms of Art.