There are only two plausible views about where the aesthetic value of a painting lies: either in its purely formal qualities or in what the painting means  But there exists no compelling general account of how a painting could derive its value from its purely formal characteristics
Ttherefore, the aesthetic value of a painting lies in what it means
History is driven primarily by economic forces or primarily by political forces. But no historian has shown convincingly that history is driven mainly by economic forces. Ttherefore, it is driven primarily by political forces.