Chapter 11 : Philosophy of Art-Aesthetics
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Aesthetics-perspectives on beauty
From the Internet encyclopedia of Philosophy by Hartley Slater
Aesthetics may be defined narrowly as the theory of beauty, or more broadly as that together with the philosophy of art. The traditional interest in beauty itself broadened, in the eighteenth century, to include the sublime, and since 1950 or so the number of pure aesthetic concepts discussed in the literature has expanded even more. Traditionally, the philosophy of art concentrated on its definition, but recently this has not been the focus, with careful analyses of aspects of art largely replacing it. Philosophical aesthetics is here considered to center on these latter-day developments. Thus, after a survey of ideas about beauty and related concepts, questions about the value of aesthetic experience and the variety of aesthetic attitudes will be addressed, before turning to matters which separate art from pure aesthetics, notably the presence of intention. That will lead to a survey of some of the main definitions of art which have been proposed, together with an account of the recent “de-definition” period. The concepts of expression, representation, and the nature of art Objects will then be covered.
VIEW: Aesthetic Appreciation: Crash Course Philosophy #30
VIEW: Aesthetics: Crash Course Philosophy #31
Table of Contents
 | Introduction |
| Aesthetic concepts |
| Aesthetic value |
| Aesthetic attitudes |
| Intentions |
| Definitions of art |
| Expression |
| Representation |
| Art objects |
READ: Encarta Encyclopedia on Aesthetics by Arthur C. Danto
| Introduction; |
| Classical Theories; |
| Other Early Approaches; |
| Modern Aesthetics; |
| Aesthetics and Art; |
| Major Contemporary Influences |
|
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ÆSTHETICS |
|
THE SCIENCE OF THE ARTS |
|
SYSTEMS AND METHODS |
|
HISTORY OF AESTHETICS |
Aesthetic Judgment
Nick Zangwill in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
American Aesthetics Association site: Aesthetics On-line
Philosophy of Art
Philosophers address a fundamental question:
What is art?
Here are a number of options:
Imitation
Play
Expression
Empathy
Experience
FUNCTION OF ART
1.
promote, reveal, or display value
2.
exists for its own sake
3.
promote a new way of seeing or experiencing
JUDGMENT CONCERNING ARTISTIC MERIT
1.
Individual judgment and standard - a matter of personal taste, expert
judgments
2.
Objective standards- harmony, order
technique/content/form
3.
Objective relativism -there exists general standards e.g.,
structure&form
but art must be evaluated according to its ability to inspire
aesthetic response
The Nature of Art
A. Objective Nature of Art
inherent elements and qualities
Plato- critique of art as negative,
anti-rational and disruptive
art as imitation, fiction,
1.
art leads away from the truth , the ideal form
2.
art incites the emotions, disorders the soal, disharmony
possible transcendent function
Aristotle-
1.
art reveals universal truths
2.
art releases emotions, CATHARSIS, maintains proper internal order
listing
of elements of tragedy- CLOSURE, UNITY OF PLOT, CATHARSIS
B. ART for ART's sake-
ART has an intrinsic value
Ortega y Gasset
Oscar Wilde-
ART expresses itself- art has an independent life
Bad
ART returns to life and nature
LIFE
imitates Art
Lying
is the proper aim of ART
C. Subjective- effect upon observer
David Hume -
a work of art is beautiful only if it evokes a certain kind of
sentiment
beauty appeals to the "common
sentiment", response should be universal to a observers with sound judgments. not all have such
judgment because of being uneducated,
inexperienced, confused or in poor health.
Durable admiration may be an indicator of great art.
Avoid caprices of mode and fashion and the mistakes of ignorance
and envy.
ROMANTICISM
art is the expression of feeling
the free play of imagination over the observation of formal
limits on artistic creativity
1. denies supremacy of reason in
ART and life
acknowledges supremacy of imagination
2. promotes subjective experience
over objective
LEO TOLSTOY's
Religious Defense of ART
1. Art is a means to communicate
feelings
2. purpose of art is to unite
humanity through shared experience,
feelings- the UNIVERSAL in human experience
3. Religious justification is the
highest understanding
4. the artist expresses and
communicates moral and religious feelings
-infectiousness-infected by the author's condition of soul
individuality, clearness, sincerity
Herbert Marcuse:
the Reality Principle replaces the Pleasure Principle
this is through repression and sublimation
this is essential to civilization
repression goes beyond the necessary to surplus repression
Social Function of Art:
TRANSCENDENCE-from the given social world to the possible
future social order-
LIBERATED
keep alive repressed dreams of Liberation-fuels revolutions
Paul Mattick ---
public funding of the arts
pro
1. support for creativity, a national resource
2. preserve freedom of expression
vs
1. funding art is not a legitimate function of government
2. government has responsibility to determine what type of art to
fund
3. taxpayers are under no obligation to support works they find
offensive or
senseless
Thomas Wolfe
------ Social
function of art
rejecting
the world
legitimizing
wealth : art as new Religion
of the educated classes
Lawrence Wechsler -- confusion
of art with life
performance
art is it art?
Introduction to Philosophy by Philip A. Pecorino is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.