When Good Art is Bad: educating the critical viewer Oscar Wilde wrote, ‘there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.’ Despite this proclamation, Wilde was deeply concerned with the ethical messages imbued in his artworks. Aestheticism is a position that denies the ethical value of an artwork can be taken into consideration when judging the work’s overall aesthetic value. Many artists, Wilde included, consider themselves to be aesthetes. Yet it seems clear that at least sometimes the ethical component of a work of art can impact its overall (aesthetic) value, in positive or negative ways. And some artworks are intended to produce an aesthetic effect and make a moral or political point. Given artworks are powerful vehicles for moral (and other) sentiments and meaning, I argue it is important that viewers are taught to engage critically with art. In this way, educational concerns pose a challenge to the position of aestheticism. Dr Laura D’Olimpio is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Education at the University of Birmingham, UK. Laura co-edits the Journal of Philosophy in Schools and regularly contributes to The Conversation, and Radio National’s Philosopher’s Zone and The Minefield. Her first book, Media and Moral Education: a philosophy of critical engagement (Routledge, 2018) won the 2018 Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia’s annual book prize. Her second book, The Necessity of Aesthetic Education is forthcoming with Bloomsbury. Chaired by David Lewin.