In my time here at the Berkman Center, steeping in the values of Creative Commons, I’ve struggled with the value of art in (post)modern society. After all, art doesn’t feed the hungry or spread democracy… does it?
Perhaps it does, according to new theories positing that art plays a role in human evolution. Some of it seems to reflect fit strongly with linguistic theory. If art functions as non-verbal communication, it can also serve as the basis for rational communicative action — albeit a different kind of rationality.
Now I see why the line that runs from Habermas to Benkler crosses into free artistic expression.
