The Lexicon · Genealogy · Enlightenment
SMITH, ADAM
1723–1790
The Impartial Spectator (The Wall Text)
Smith: moral judgment is regulated by an internalized impartial spectator who evaluates our conduct from a third position. The wall text is the impartial spectator externalized. The visitor reads what the institution would say about the work from a position the artist cannot occupy. The spectator is not absent; the spectator is on the wall. The institution provides the third position. The artist may read it too.