Introduction to Philosophy Week 9 Philosophy and Aesthetics

Student Learning Outcomes After completing this weeks lessons, the student will be able to: 1- Accurately define aesthetics and identify objects of aesthetic experience 2- Summarize alternative views on the meaning of aesthetic objects 3- Establish a personal aesthetic and explain how it is manifested 4- Discuss various aesthetic meanings as they relate to current objects

Aesthetics Aesthetics Does beauty reside in things or in the eye of the beholder? Should art serve a moral purpose, or should art be for art’s sake? Do aesthetic objects reveal the nature of ultimate reality? Can a person’s life be a work of art? Do artistic visions alter our view of life? Aesthetics Aesthetics

Aesthetics The philosophical study concerned with the understanding of beauty and its manifestations in art and nature The study focuses on the value dimension of certain kinds of human experience by analyzing the characteristics of what we call beautiful and what judgments we make as a result Objects of Aesthetic Experience – things that can be/are appreciated aesthetically Examples of aesthetic objects are paintings, photographs, sculptures, hobbies, music, recipes, movies… As long as it is something that we appreciate because of its beauty, it is an object of aesthetic experience

Alternative Views on the Meaning of Aesthetic Objects Objects Express Eternal Forms Objects Express Suchness Objects Express a Unified Experience Objects Express Feelings Objects Express Existential Possibilities

Objects Express Eternal Forms Art objects are not beautiful/pleasing because of what they are, but because of what they represent or imitate Art objects tap into greater meanings of beauty/perfection/pleasure and it is these greater and more fundamental meanings that we see and feel as observers

Objects Express Eternal Forms What ‘greater meanings’ do each of the images represent or imitate? Peace? Love? Hope?

Objects Express Suchness Experiences and objects are to be accepted and celebrated as they are (similar to Zen-knowing) The experience of objects and situations is not to be understood or perfected, instead, objects are intended to express a living moment that is to be experienced by the observer

Objects Express Suchness Compare talking about each of the below activities with experiencing each. Suchness refers to the pleasure/beauty we experience while enjoying the object.

Objects Express a Unified Experience While we can appreciate an object for its own beauty, we will appreciate it more if we know that it belonged to our grandmother, or that a group of children made it – we become connected (unified) with the experience of others “Objects take on meaning when we discover their interrelationships and interact with them in new ways” (pg 187);

Objects Express a Unified Experience How do the experiences/objects pictured take on new meaning because of the connections the people have with others?

Objects Express Feelings Aka expressionism Feelings expressed might be those of 1- the artist, 2- the object, or 3- the observer (1- the artist is uplifting, 2- the music is uplifting, or 3- the music makes me feel uplifted)

Objects Express Feelings Do people believe the images below are beautiful because of the artist themselves, their medium is beautiful, or because of the feelings we have as observers?

Objects Express Existential Possibilities Art objects are “presentations of a possibility felt and imagined by its author” not a representation of a form or essence of something else The object is “an enactment of what an individual feels and imagines existence to be” (pg. 190) Examples include sci-fi films and many works of fiction. When these objects present realities that differ greatly from our own, they are a presentation of a writer’s imagined reality – a possible world felt and imagined by authors.

Objects Express Existential Possibilities What possibilities did the artists express through each of the objects below?

How Should We Address Controversial Art? The fastest, most uncritical reasoning for encouraging the free creation of any/all aesthetic objects is simply: “People are just expressing themselves…” But we know, through various epistemological, metaphysical, and ethical theories, that what works for an individual isn’t necessarily what is best for the public. Studying aesthetics philosophically enables us to combine our intuition with testimony and other kinds of evidence in order to conclude that a piece of art is/is not acceptable. Several hip hop artists, for example, have recently been criticized for their lyrics and behaviors that (seemingly) condone acts such as sexual violence and drug use. In order to properly assess whether such criticisms are warranted, we must take several factors into account. These include personal and cultural norms, historical evidence of increases/decreases in violence, and public opinions.