Abstract The question of the value of painting—why paintings should matter to us—has been addressed by a number of Phenomenological philosophers. In this paper, I critically review recent discussions of this topic by Simon Crowell and Paul Crowther—while also looking back to work by Merleau-Ponty and Michel Henry. All the views I discuss claim that painting is important (at least in part) because it can make manifest certain philosophically important truths. While sympathetic to this approach, I discuss various problems with it. Firstly, are these truths verbally explicable, or only communicable through the artwork itself? Secondly, if its truthfulness is the reason why we value painting, can this criterion track our intuitive judgements about relative artistic merit? Thirdly, can the truthfulness of painting be a reason for valuing it if that truth is divorced from its traditional association with Beauty and Goodness? I suggest ways in which the first and second problems could in principle be solved, but argue in response to the third that truth must indeed be seen in the context of other values if it is to explain why painting matters.

中文翻译：

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为什么绘画很重要：一些现象学方法

摘要绘画的价值问题（为什么绘画对我们很重要）已经由许多现象学哲学家解决。在本文中，我认真地回顾了Simon Crowell和Paul Crowther关于该主题的最新讨论，同时还回顾了Merleau-Ponty和Michel Henry的工作。我讨论的所有观点都声称绘画是重要的（至少部分是因为），因为它可以体现某些哲学上重要的真理。尽管同情这种方法，但我讨论了各种问题。首先，这些真理在口头上是可以解释的，还是只能通过艺术品本身进行交流？其次，如果它的真实性是我们重视绘画的原因，那么这个标准可以追踪我们对相对艺术价值的直觉判断吗？第三，如果绘画的真实性脱离了它与“美与善”的传统联系，那么绘画的真实性会成为对其进行估价的原因吗？我提出了原则上可以解决第一个和第二个问题的方法，但是在回应第三个问题时，我主张必须确实在其他价值观的背景下看待真理，才能解释绘画为何重要。