Two Words, One Answer.
aesthetics
 Philosophies of Art and Beauty: Selected Readings in Aesthetics from Plato to Heidegger (Phoenix Books) $28.00 I teach university level aesthetics, and I find myself switching between this text and Stephen David Ross's "Art and Its Significance." Neither does everything I'd like, but they represent the best of the rest. "Philosophies of Art and Beauty" is the text I most often use for my classes simply because what it does, it does better than any other available anthology: aside from some missing Kant sections and no Renaissance writers or Hume selections, it has virtually every essntial text and passage written by the most enduringly influential philosophers of art up to 1930 except perhaps Tolstoy. It includes Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Ficino, Shaftesbury, Kant, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Croce, Dewey, and Heidegger. (It has no Gadamer, contrary to the claims of another reviewer.) But the book includes no contemporary theory at all except that of Heidegger. And the chapter introductions, while solid, are certainly dated since it's been almost a half a century since the book was compiled. Ross' anthology, by contrast, includes the really important material from Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche and Heidegger (which most other aesthetics anthologies, excepting Hofstadter's, do not), plus it has selections from Hume and Tolstoy and many contemporary figures of import. But the early historical selections are much less comprehensive than those in Hofstadter's volume, and Ross includes no medieval or Renaissance writers at all. I like the Hofstadter text mostly because of the depth of its selections and because it's not the least bit trendy. But since Hofstadter's book has no contemporary theory at all after Heidegger, it may not be the text for those who want a broad representation of theory. In sum, if you want an anthology that comes close to covering all the essential writers on the subject (past and present) and doing it fairly well, "Art and Its Significance" is perhaps your best choice despite its nod to trendiness. But if you want to concentrate on pre-20th century theory and know you've covering almost all the important writings of those figures, then Hofstadter's "Philosophies of Art and Beauty" is the better book. And it's perhaps the most reasonably priced philosophy of art anthology available.  Aesthetics: A Reader in Philosophy of the Arts (2nd Edition) $76.67 I read this book for a graduate seminar on the philosophy of art. This book is an excellent way to get a general idea of the vast field of philosophy of art. Aesthetics = philosophy of Art, thinking about art. Using writings from over fifty philosophers on art form Plato to Hans-Georg Gadamer gives the reader a great grounding in all of the philosophical theories of "what is art." The reader will find that how we engage art today is different then how the ancient Greeks did, art was embedded in a cultural context for them. Art was not in museums or in dance halls. Art is in a special zone of experience today in museums, etc. Tragedy for Greeks was part of their politics and religion, sculpture and painting the same way. Music until recently, (after the enlightenment) was for religion or some kind of official function. Philosophy tries to come up with theories about art; it may be a fool's errand. A set of principles that define and illuminates or explains the full measure of art is probably not attainable. However, just because a theory is wrong doesn't mean it has no value, we can draw import from all of them. By using excerpts from different philosophers the reader gets a good understanding of the major art movements, which I identify below. The "Imitation theory" of art- means it copies something in the natural world. Art refers to some objective reality outside the mind and artwork. (Plato, Aristotle). . Sometimes the imitation theory is also known as the "representational art theory" because the artwork represented something in the world but is not a simplistic idea of copying. The art forms that are most representational are representational sculpture, painting, and drama. The background and implications of the imitation theory first originated in ancient Greece. The imitation theory is the traditional theory that held sway with artists and philosophers up into the eighteenth century Romantic period in Europe. In order for one to fully grasp the meaning of the imitation theory, it is necessary to understand the nuanced meaning of the Greek word for imitation. The Greek word for imitation is mimsis; thus, art is the imitation of nature for the Greeks. However, mimsis is a very complex word with many nuanced meanings. It can also mean a representational copy. Plato uses it in speaking of painting. For example, if a Greek painter painted a bird that looked bird like, that would be a sense of mimsis. Aristotle says art is an imitation of nature, but not just "copying" it. Aristotle does not mean that when art does what it does it reproduces a natural thing. Rather, what Aristotle means is that art impersonates the power of nature to produce something. Human art does something along the lines of what nature does which is very different. Nature produces a tree from out of its power of generation without any intervention from nature, a builder produces a house out of materials which requires the intervention of an agent; however, Aristotle sees no fundamental bright line between those two examples. The "Expression theory" of art- refers to something going on in the human mind. Art refers to some subjective reality of the human mind, such as ideas, feelings, and cognitive faculties. (Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer). The expression theory is the prime competitor to the imitation theory. The expression theory is a modern phenomenon that turns to the subject. This theory became prevalent with the rise of the Romanticism movement of the nineteenth century. With the expression theory--a shift takes place from the objective outer world of the imitation theory to perception of the mind the subject of the expression theory. Expression theorists expect artworks will produce certain human emotions in the audience. Thus, the expression theory has a certain power in focusing on the mind of both the creator and the audience. Expression theorists argue that the theory has a certain power in being able to articulate the communicative and educative power of the mind. For example, the artist has an experience that the rest of us have not noticed. Then the artist tries to express this experience in the artwork, which she hopes will transmit to the audience so they can share the artist's experience. The idea in the expression theory that artworks have an educative power is central to Robin Collingwood's theory. The whole idea is that the artist is some kind of educator and the artwork becomes some kind of educational vehicle for people. Of course, art can have so much power in this regard, as in the case of Shakespearean tragedies like Macbeth. Thus, the expression theory gives artwork a new importance, especially in the medium of the written word, since it purports that artworks like literature are something we can learn from that we cannot do any other way. Contemporary Art Theory The "Historical artworld," theory- art involves an interrelated complex of artists, artwork, audience, artworld/institutions. All these work in concert with each other, and changes through history adds even more fluidity. This complex changes through history, reflecting a tension between normalcy and creativity (Nietzsche, Dewey, Heidegger, Gadamer). The features and significance of the historical artworld theory, which more properly should be termed a "notion," is that it does not "locate" art in any one of the four traditional factors of artist, artwork, audience, and artworld institutions that people have traditionally examined to define what art is. The historical artworld notion expands beyond the traditional four factors and takes into account history, and the tension between creativity and normalcy. Thus, the historical artworld notion looks at art through a more broad interpretation then the imitation and expression theories do, by adding history and the tension between creativity and normalcy as well. Thus, the historical artworld notion is better at explaining the fluid relationships between the various facets involved in art. The idea is that it uses "hermeneutics" which means "interpretations" that are in Martin Heidegger's words more "world disclosive." Therefore, the historical artworld notion tends to be less dogmatic than a theory and really seeks to serve as a guidepost for understanding art. One of the most significant features of the historical artworld notion, unlike the imitation and expression theories, is that as Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer argue, the theory of hermeneutics purports that it is impossible to approach anything independent of historical influences that have already shaped us and therefore, mold how it is we would approach anything. There are already operating influences in how we regard anything in the world, and art would be included in that. By contrast, the imitation theory is too "narrow" in its "accepted rules" of art because it only seeks to imitate objects in the world and disregard the importance of historical influence in creating artworks. One of the ways to understand this is by examining child development. Every adult has been a child, and every child has been shaped by cultural influences through all sorts of ways, education, rearing, etc. In other words, any human self will always be equipped with ways of seeing; therefore, there is no such thing as coming to see something as all by itself. Thus, when we approach a work of art, before we even engage it we are already equipped with inheritances from our tradition and our culture that come to us by way of education and other kinds of influences. No engagement with a work of art is a blank slate-- we are not a tabula rasa. For example, in the case of Greek tragedy, we would have to know what the historical circumstances were and what it was like for the work to be performed at that time. Therefore, any approach to art always carries the art history with it, because historical influences are always shaping how we begin to see anything. My study has convinced me that Gadamer's hermeneutic circle is the most comprehensive and exciting theory of art that has made a real impression in the art world. I recommend this work for anyone interested in philosophy, philosophy of art. I strongly recommend Gadamer's "Truth and Method" for an in-depth understanding of the hermeneutic circle and its explanation of art.  Aesthetics: The Classic Readings (Philosophy: The Classic Readings) $42.95 I read this book for a graduate seminar on the philosophy of art. This book is an excellent way to get a general idea of the vast field of philosophy of art. Aesthetics = philosophy of Art, thinking about art. Using writings from over fifty philosophers on art form Plato to Hans-Georg Gadamer gives the reader a great grounding in all of the philosophical theories of "what is art." The reader will find that how we engage art today is different then how the ancient Greeks did, art was embedded in a cultural context for them. Art was not in museums or in dance halls. Art is in a special zone of experience today in museums, etc. Tragedy for Greeks was part of their politics and religion, sculpture and painting the same way. Music until recently, (after the enlightenment) was for religion or some kind of official function. Philosophy tries to come up with theories about art; it may be a fool's errand. A set of principles that define and illuminates or explains the full measure of art is probably not attainable. However, just because a theory is wrong doesn't mean it has no value, we can draw import from all of them. By using excerpts from different philosophers the reader gets a good understanding of the major art movements, which I identify below. The "Imitation theory" of art- means it copies something in the natural world. Art refers to some objective reality outside the mind and artwork. (Plato, Aristotle). . Sometimes the imitation theory is also known as the "representational art theory" because the artwork represented something in the world but is not a simplistic idea of copying. The art forms that are most representational are representational sculpture, painting, and drama. The background and implications of the imitation theory first originated in ancient Greece. The imitation theory is the traditional theory that held sway with artists and philosophers up into the eighteenth century Romantic period in Europe. In order for one to fully grasp the meaning of the imitation theory, it is necessary to understand the nuanced meaning of the Greek word for imitation. The Greek word for imitation is mimsis; thus, art is the imitation of nature for the Greeks. However, mimsis is a very complex word with many nuanced meanings. It can also mean a representational copy. Plato uses it in speaking of painting. For example, if a Greek painter painted a bird that looked bird like, that would be a sense of mimsis. Aristotle says art is an imitation of nature, but not just "copying" it. Aristotle does not mean that when art does what it does it reproduces a natural thing. Rather, what Aristotle means is that art impersonates the power of nature to produce something. Human art does something along the lines of what nature does which is very different. Nature produces a tree from out of its power of generation without any intervention from nature, a builder produces a house out of materials which requires the intervention of an agent; however, Aristotle sees no fundamental bright line between those two examples. The "Expression theory" of art- refers to something going on in the human mind. Art refers to some subjective reality of the human mind, such as ideas, feelings, and cognitive faculties. (Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer). The expression theory is the prime competitor to the imitation theory. The expression theory is a modern phenomenon that turns to the subject. This theory became prevalent with the rise of the Romanticism movement of the nineteenth century. With the expression theory--a shift takes place from the objective outer world of the imitation theory to perception of the mind the subject of the expression theory. Expression theorists expect artworks will produce certain human emotions in the audience. Thus, the expression theory has a certain power in focusing on the mind of both the creator and the audience. Expression theorists argue that the theory has a certain power in being able to articulate the communicative and educative power of the mind. For example, the artist has an experience that the rest of us have not noticed. Then the artist tries to express this experience in the artwork, which she hopes will transmit to the audience so they can share the artist's experience. The idea in the expression theory that artworks have an educative power is central to Robin Collingwood's theory. The whole idea is that the artist is some kind of educator and the artwork becomes some kind of educational vehicle for people. Of course, art can have so much power in this regard, as in the case of Shakespearean tragedies like Macbeth. Thus, the expression theory gives artwork a new importance, especially in the medium of the written word, since it purports that artworks like literature are something we can learn from that we cannot do any other way. Contemporary Art Theory The "Historical artworld," theory- art involves an interrelated complex of artists, artwork, audience, artworld/institutions. All these work in concert with each other, and changes through history adds even more fluidity. This complex changes through history, reflecting a tension between normalcy and creativity (Nietzsche, Dewey, Heidegger, Gadamer). The features and significance of the historical artworld theory, which more properly should be termed a "notion," is that it does not "locate" art in any one of the four traditional factors of artist, artwork, audience, and artworld institutions that people have traditionally examined to define what art is. The historical artworld notion expands beyond the traditional four factors and takes into account history, and the tension between creativity and normalcy. Thus, the historical artworld notion looks at art through a more broad interpretation then the imitation and expression theories do, by adding history and the tension between creativity and normalcy as well. Thus, the historical artworld notion is better at explaining the fluid relationships between the various facets involved in art. The idea is that it uses "hermeneutics" which means "interpretations" that are in Martin Heidegger's words more "world disclosive." Therefore, the historical artworld notion tends to be less dogmatic than a theory and really seeks to serve as a guidepost for understanding art. One of the most significant features of the historical artworld notion, unlike the imitation and expression theories, is that as Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer argue, the theory of hermeneutics purports that it is impossible to approach anything independent of historical influences that have already shaped us and therefore, mold how it is we would approach anything. There are already operating influences in how we regard anything in the world, and art would be included in that. By contrast, the imitation theory is too "narrow" in its "accepted rules" of art because it only seeks to imitate objects in the world and disregard the importance of historical influence in creating artworks. One of the ways to understand this is by examining child development. Every adult has been a child, and every child has been shaped by cultural influences through all sorts of ways, education, rearing, etc. In other words, any human self will always be equipped with ways of seeing; therefore, there is no such thing as coming to see something as all by itself. Thus, when we approach a work of art, before we even engage it we are already equipped with inheritances from our tradition and our culture that come to us by way of education and other kinds of influences. No engagement with a work of art is a blank slate-- we are not a tabula rasa. For example, in the case of Greek tragedy, we would have to know what the historical circumstances were and what it was like for the work to be performed at that time. Therefore, any approach to art always carries the art history with it, because historical influences are always shaping how we begin to see anything. My study has convinced me that Gadamer's hermeneutic circle is the most comprehensive and exciting theory of art that has made a real impression in the art world. I recommend this work for anyone interested in philosophy, philosophy of art. I strongly recommend Gadamer's "Truth and Method" for an in-depth understanding of the hermeneutic circle and its explanation of art.  Aesthetics: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art (Oxford Paperbacks) $49.99 I read "Aesthetics" when it was assigned for a graduate level course on 'Aesthetics and Critical Judgment'. I was able to read the entire book within a week since Sheppard takes care to lay out her points simply and relate them to common experience. The first half of the book contains visual art examples with black & white plates to refer to, while the second half focuses on literary and some film examples. She attempts to summarize Plato, Tolstoy, Kant, E. D. Hirsch and others' theories regarding aesthetics and judgment, so her book serves as a good overview or introduction to the philosophy of art like the subtitle suggests. Overall, I didn't find the book as interesting as reading other secondary sources on philosophy or even the primary sources. I'm glad I purchased the book Used, because neither it, nor many other 154-page paperbacks are worth the $40+ new price. |
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