Aesthetics: What is art?

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Aesthetics What is art?
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Aesthetics defined

• The branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and
  taste (emphasizing the evaluative criteria that
  are applied to art) "traditional aesthetics
  assumed the existence of universal and timeless
  criteria of artistic value"
• http//www.dictionary.co.uk

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• Internet Encyclopedia of philosophy
• Discusses the theory of knowledge (Epistemology)
  and knowledge through Art
• Plato
• Artists mislead their viewers into thinking that
  knowledge lies in the represented (mimetic)
  object.
• They move us emotionally in such a way that ones
  character could be corrupted.
• Aristotle
• Aristotle agreed with Plato that art could indeed
  influence the development of ones moral
  character.
• But that can be beneficial as it purges the
  tragic emotions.

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Aesthetics Philosophy of Art

• Plato art imitates reality. By focusing
  on mere appearances, art distracts us from the
  truth and appeals to socially destructive
  emotions. It provides no real knowledge and
  undermines personal and social well-being
• Aristotle art does not imitate particular
  things rather it identifies universal
  ideals and values. It also purges us of
  our erotic and aggressive passions (catharsis)

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• The recurrent theme is that the knowledge gained
  is a representation, that it is mimetic.
• There is also an assumption that there are shared
  values apparent in the non-material (virtual)
  world where emotion and consciousness preside.
• Problems are found in passing knowledge through
  Art because in the case of representing a
  character
• The artist may not understand the character they
  are representing.
• An artists subject could be from a novel, based
  on a poem. Does the author of the novel
  understand the character in the poem, let alone
  the artist understand the character in the novel
  in the novel?
• What effect does the reader/audience have on
  interpreting the outcome?

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Other Views of Art

• Romanticism art expresses or evokes feelings
  it embodies the creativity of reality by
  expressing emotions
• Art as form the significance of a work depends
  on the form or order of its parts.
• Abstract art develops aesthetic sensibilities
• The disinterested pleasure of experiencing such
  order is the experience of beauty

B. Croce
Clive Bell
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Still Other Views of Art

• Institutional theory of art the designation of
  something as art is based on decisions by the
  artworld (George Dickie)
• The End of Art conceptual art (e.g.,
  by Marcel Duchamp) is less concerned now with
  representation or expression as it is
  with questioning what art itself is

Arthur Danto