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Books by James Young

This book radically rethinks the philosophical basis of copyright in the arts. The author reflect... more This book radically rethinks the philosophical basis of copyright in the arts. The author reflects on the ontology of art to argue that current copyright laws cannot be justified. The book begins by identifying two problems that result from current copyright laws: (1) creativity is restricted and (2) they primarily serve the interests of large corporations over those of the artists and general public. Against this background, the author presents an account of the ontology of artworks and explains what metaphysics can tell us about ownership in the arts. Next, he makes a moral argument that copyright terms should be shorter and that corporations should not own copyrights. The remaining chapters tackle questions regarding the appropriation of tokens of artworks, pattern-types and artistic elements. The result is a sweeping reinterpretation of copyright in the arts that rests on sound ontological and moral foundations. Radically Rethinking Copyright in the Arts will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in aesthetics and philosophy of art, metaphysics, philosophy of law and intellectual property law.

Oxford University Press, 2015

Why do we value music? Many people report that listening to music is one of life's most rewarding... more Why do we value music? Many people report that listening to music is one of life's most rewarding activities. In Critique of Pure Music, James O. Young seeks to explain why this is so. Formalists tell us that music is appreciated as pure, contentless form. On this view, listeners receive pleasure, or a pleasurable ‘musical’ emotion, when they explore the abstract patterns found in music. Music, formalists believe, does not arouse ordinary emotions such as joy, melancholy or fear, nor can it represent emotion or provide psychological insight. Young holds that formalists are wrong on all counts. Drawing upon the latest psychological research, he argues that music is expressive of emotion by resembling human expressive behaviour. By resembling human expressive behaviour, music is able to arouse emotions in listeners. This, in turn, makes possible the representation of emotion by music. The representation of emotion in music gives music the capacity to provide psychological insight—into the emotional lives of composers, and the emotional lives of individuals from a variety of times and places. And it is this capacity of music to provide psychological insight which explains a good deal of the value of music, both vocal and purely instrumental. Without it, music could not be experienced as profound. Philosophers, psychologists, musicians, musicologists, and music lovers will all find something of interest in this book.

Young shows wide and thoughtful knowledge, and sincere appreciation of the arts.'

Papers by James Young

Erkenntnis, 2025

Philosophers have failed to give a satisfactory analysis of the concept of the aesthetic. The att... more Philosophers have failed to give a satisfactory analysis of the concept of the aesthetic. The attempt to analyze the concept faces two difficulties. The first is that aesthetic objects cannot be identified without knowing which experiences are aesthetic experiences and aesthetic experiences cannot be identified without knowing which objects are aesthetic objects. The second problem is that an incredibly broad range of experiences and objects are described as aesthetic. There is no principled way to choose between the various accounts of the aesthetic and philosophers end up offering persuasive definitions of the aesthetic. These definitions classify as aesthetic objects and experiences ones which philosophers believe are deserving of attention. These objects and experiences are, however, valuable in a wide variety of ways and calling them all aesthetic obscures differences between them. Finer-grained concepts than the concept of the aesthetic are needed to explain how various kinds of objects and experiences are valuable. The belief that the concept of the aesthetic is a useful concept turns out to have been a myth.

Empirical Studies of the Arts, 2024

As an advocate of the Ethos Theory of Music, Herbert Spencer argues that sharing in a wide range ... more As an advocate of the Ethos Theory of Music, Herbert Spencer argues that sharing in a wide range of musically aroused emotions promotes fellow-feeling thanks to which humans behave considerately toward each other. Here we attempt to provide empirical evidence for this claim. We identified Spencer's fellow-feeling as an instantiation of the concerns for Harm and Fairness Moral Foundations; thus, we predicted that musical expertise, and specifically long-term listening to and playing classical music, would lead to favoring individualizing moral foundations and opposing the binding ones. A cross-national questionnaire (US, Canada, and Italy) was conceived (N = 330), and the data were analyzed through a parallel mediation Structural Equation Model. Results confirm that musical expertise is associated with lower proclivity toward the binding moral foundations. Conversely, it is connected with an embracement of individualizing moral foundations. Coherently with Spencer's view, such an effect is fully mediated by the emotional way of listening to music.

Journal of Aesthetic Education, 2010

Quando há Arte! Eds. Vítor Guerreiro, Carlos João Correia, and Vítor Moura, Lisbon: Fora de Série, 2023

In Languages of Art, Nelson Goodman proposed that the concept of expression be analysed in terms ... more In Languages of Art, Nelson Goodman proposed that the concept of expression be analysed in terms of the concept of exemplification and, in particular, in terms of the concept of metaphorical exemplification. In the years following the publication of this ground-breaking work, Goodman’s proposal attracted a good deal of discussion with some philosophers favouring his proposal while others were sceptical. In the end, the debate petered out, as is often the case with philosophical debates, without any resolution being reached. This essay revisits what Goodman has to say about expression. In my view, no one, perhaps not even Goodman, had a clear understanding of his theory of how artworks are expressive, and a goal of this essay is to clarify Goodman’s position. The focus here is on what it means to say that a work of music can metaphorically exemplify an emotion or be expressive of an emotion. This essay proposes that the best way to interpret what Goodman has to say about expression is to see him as proposing a variation on the familiar, and plausible, resemblance theory of expressiveness. A second goal is to show that Goodman’s account of expression is not an advance on more standard versions of the resemblance theory.

Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists, 2023

In the wake of Locke's Essay, empiricists faced the challenge of giving an empiricist account of ... more In the wake of Locke's Essay, empiricists faced the challenge of giving an empiricist account of the origins of moral knowledge. Locke did not rise to this challenge and relied on revelation as the source of moral knowledge. Other empiricists, including Hume and Hutcheson, opted for either emotivism or subjectivism. Clarke and others opted for rationalism and non-naturalism. In contrast, Catharine Cockburn's metaethics combined Locke's empiricism with naturalism. She held that moral good is natural good and that natural good is known just as any other matters of natural fact are known: empirically. Cockburn's position was unusual for its time, and the full originality and appeal of her meta-ethical position have not been fully appreciated.

Philosophy in Review, 2011

Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2007

In a number of contexts one comes across the suggestion that cultures are collective owners of cu... more In a number of contexts one comes across the suggestion that cultures are collective owners of cultural property, such as particularly significant works of art. Indigenous peoples are often held to be collective owners of cultural property, but they are not the only ones. Icelandic culture is said to have a claim on the Flatejarbók and Greek culture is held to own the Parthenon Marbles. In this paper I investigate the conditions under which a culture is the rightful owner of cultural property. I argue against the claims that cultures inherit cultural property. I also argue that a culture's claim to own cultural property is seldom, if ever, founded on either practices employed in the culture or collective production of cultural property. I maintain, however, that the very value of cultural property for some culture can, in some instances, provide the basis for the culture's claim on the property.

East Asian Journal of Philosophy, 2023

Joseph Margolis' writings on definitions of art, which often take the form of a debate with Morri... more Joseph Margolis' writings on definitions of art, which often take the form of a debate with Morris Weitz, are under-appreciated. Margolis agrees with Weitz that the concept of art is open in the sense that works can be admitted to the class of artworks when these works do not have all of the properties thought to be necessary and sufficient for membership in the class prior to the time of its admission. Margolis also agreed that we cannot go back to the old project of defining art by determining the real essence of art. Nevertheless, he does not abandon the project of defining art in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions. These conditions are not, however, read off the real essence of art. Traditionally, the process of defining art began by inspecting artworks to determine what makes them valuable. Margolis realised that the only way forward at this point is to decide what is valuable and then decide what is art. Margolis' approach has the consequence that definitions of art are what C.L. Stevenson (1938) called persuasive definitions.

Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, 2023

Laura Sizer holds that the sadness induced by sad music enables listeners to focus on the formal ... more Laura Sizer holds that the sadness induced by sad music enables listeners to focus on the formal and aesthetic features of music. These features may include the formal features of music or "the beautiful unalloyed sadness" music conveys. Unfortunately, her proposal is, at best, only a partial solution to the paradox of sad music. Empirical evidence indicates, contrary to what Sizer holds, that sad music inclines listeners to think about themselves and their own experience, not about the music they are hearing. Sizer's solution to the paradox of sad music is also unable to explain why enjoyment of sad music is correlated with trait empathy.

The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 1997

Ratio, 1996

I characterise a relativist account of truth as one according to which the truth value of a sente... more I characterise a relativist account of truth as one according to which the truth value of a sentence can vary without its meaning changing. Relativism is to be contrasted with absolutism, which states that the truth values of sentences cannot change, so long as their meanings remain constant. I argue that absolutism follows from the realist account of meaning and truth conditions. According to realism, the meaning of a sentence consists in objective truth conditions and sentences are true if and only if certain objective conditions obtain. Relativism is a consequence of anti-realism. Anti-realists believe that the meanings of sentences consist in recognisable conditions and that sentences are true if and only if certain recognisable conditions obtain. I contrast the sorts of relativism which results from partial, empiricism-based anti-realisms, and global anti-realism, which is linked to a coherence theory of knowledge. I offer a few remarks on how global anti-realists can restrict the scope of their relativism.

Disputatio, 2021

The view that music can have a positive or negative effect on a person's character has been defen... more The view that music can have a positive or negative effect on a person's character has been defended throughout the history of philosophy. This paper traces some of the history of the ethos theory and identifies a version of the theory that could be true. This version of the theory can be traced to Plato and Aristotle and was given a clear statement by Herbert Spencer in the nineteenth century. The paper then examines some of the empirical literature on how music can affect dispositions to behave and moral judgement. None of this evidence provides much support for the ethos theory. The paper then proposes a programme of research that has the potential to confirm the ethos theory.

British Journal of Aesthetics, 2021

Some writers have objected to cultural appropriation in the arts on the grounds that it violates ... more Some writers have objected to cultural appropriation in the arts on the grounds that it violates cultures' property rights. Recently a paper by Erich Matthes and another by C. Thi Nguyen and Matthew Strohl have argued that cultural appropriation does not violate property rights but that it is nevertheless often objectionable. Matthes argues that cultural appropriation contributes to the oppression of disadvantaged cultures. Nguyen and Strohl argue that it violated the intimacy of cultures. This paper argues that neither Matthes nor Nguyen and Strohl succeed in showing that cultural appropriation is often objectionable.

The Ethics of Archaeology, 2006

The question of who ought to own the artefacts archaeologists find has generated a vast literatur... more The question of who ought to own the artefacts archaeologists find has generated a vast literature. Lawyers, archaeologists, anthropologists, museum curators, aboriginal rights activists and others have written extensively on the question of who has a right to archaeological finds. This literature has been part of the larger literature concerned with cultural appropriation. With very few exceptions, philosophers have had nothing to say about the appropriation of archaeological finds. This is unfortunate since ethical questions lie at the root of the legal and public policy debates about ownership of archaeological finds. This chapter is designed to provide the ethical framework required for the resolution of some of these debates. I am particularly interested in the suggestion that a culture can have a claim on archaeological finds. My hypothesis is that, some of the time, a culture has a rightful claim on archaeological finds. CANDIDATE OWNERS At least four types of candidates can be identified as possible rightful owners of archaeological finds. The first possible owners of find are individuals. These individuals could be either individual people or institutions such as museums. Individual owners could be those who have found artefacts or those who have fairly acquired them from the individuals who have. Alternatively, a find might be owned by a culture. So, for example, one might hold that some find belongs to the members of Greek culture. One also hears the suggestion that archaeological finds are part of the patrimony of a nation.

Oxford University Press, 2015

Young shows wide and thoughtful knowledge, and sincere appreciation of the arts.'

Erkenntnis, 2025

Empirical Studies of the Arts, 2024

Journal of Aesthetic Education, 2010

Quando há Arte! Eds. Vítor Guerreiro, Carlos João Correia, and Vítor Moura, Lisbon: Fora de Série, 2023

Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists, 2023

Philosophy in Review, 2011

Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2007

East Asian Journal of Philosophy, 2023

Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, 2023

The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 1997

Ratio, 1996

Disputatio, 2021

British Journal of Aesthetics, 2021

The Ethics of Archaeology, 2006

Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 2021

Kant was not a formalist about the fine arts. When talks about form he is participating in an eig... more Kant was not a formalist about the fine arts. When talks about form he is participating in an eighteenth-century debate about whether form (or design) is more important to painting than colour. In music, the debate is about whether form (in this case, melody) is more important than colour (in this case, timbre). Kant believes that form (design or melody) is more important that colour (timbre). Any other reading of what Kant is talking about when he refers to form in the arts is anachronistic.

Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 2020

According to the orthodox view of Kant’s philosophy of music, Kant is the founder of musical form... more According to the orthodox view of Kant’s philosophy of music, Kant is the founder of musical formalism, the view that music is pure, contentless form, and appreciated as such. On this orthodox view, Kant is an innovator in philosophy of music, though his views are confused and sometimes contradictory. Sometimes, we are told, Kant indicates that music is a fine art and sometimes that it is merely an agreeable art. None of the orthodox position is correct. Kant’s views on music are familiar, even a little old fashioned for their time. His views are consistent. He believes that some music is fine art and that the fine arts
are imitative arts. Imitative arts have content, and Kant believes that at least some music has content. Our views on Kant’s philosophy of music ought to be thoroughly revised.

Revista Portuguesa de Filosopfia, 2018

This essay argues that there is no alethic basis for adopting one ontology of jazz music rather t... more This essay argues that there is no alethic basis for adopting one ontology of jazz music rather than another. Any ontology of jazz that is consistent with the available empirical evidence may be adopted, though pragmatic reasons may exist for favouring one ontology of jazz over another. There are empirical differences between jazz and much of classical music, but one may adopt the same ontology for jazz that one adopts for works classical music.

Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Imagination, 2016

Croatian Journal of Philosophy, 2019

Many philosophers have claimed that reading literary fiction makes people more virtuous. This ess... more Many philosophers have claimed that reading literary fiction makes people more virtuous. This essay begins by defending the view that this claim is empirical. It goes on to review the empirical literature and finds that this literature supports the claim philosophers have made. Three mechanisms are identified whereby reading literary fiction makes people more virtuous: empathy is increased when readers enter imaginatively into the lives of fictional characters; reading literary fiction promotes self-reflection; and readers mimic the prosocial behaviour of fictional characters. The paper concludes with a caution: there is a danger that readers could mimic antisocial behaviour displayed in literary fiction. If they do, reading some literary fiction could make readers less virtuous.