1. Philosophical Analysis.
The distinctions made in
Part II of this article are the product of
philosophical
analysis by many mid-twentieth-century thinkers, a
number of whom have already been referred to. Philo-
sophical analysis consists of various procedures de-
signed to elicit and make explicit the nature
of a con-
cept: e.g., is it simple or complex?
If complex, what
are its constituents? Does it have necessary and suffi-
cient constituents, or is it really a
family of concepts
with overlapping sets of criteria? Analytic methods
have contributed to progress in every branch of philos-
ophy, including aesthetics. It is safe to say that, at
the
very least, the distinct issues involving beauty and the
reasonable defensible resolutions are better understood
today than in any
previous period.
