The Acquaintance Principle, Aesthetic Autonomy, and Aesthetic Appreciation

The acquaintance principle (AP) and the view it expresses have recently been tied to a debate surrounding the possibility of aesthetic testimony which, plainly put, deals with the question whether aesthetic knowledge can be acquired through testimony-typically aesthetic and non-aesthetic descriptions communicated from person to person. In this context a number of suggestions have been put forward opting for a restricted acceptance of AP. This paper is an attempt to restrict AP even more.