Aesthetics: Difference between revisions
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'''Aesthetics''' is a discipline of philosophy which deals with understanding aesthetic evaluation and judgment through the application of reason. Aesthetics does not make judgments about the quality of works of art, but rather tries to apply reason to judgments others make about art. Aesthetic philosophers will tend to be interested in questions such as "what criteria do people use to discern art from non-art and are they reasonable?" and "what is it which we are talking about when we talk about expressivity in art?" | '''Aesthetics''' is a discipline of philosophy which deals with understanding aesthetic evaluation and judgment through the application of reason. Aesthetics does not make judgments about the quality of works of art, but rather tries to apply reason to judgments others make about art. Aesthetic philosophers will tend to be interested in questions such as "what criteria do people use to discern art from non-art and are they reasonable?" and "what is it which we are talking about when we talk about expressivity in art?" | ||
Revision as of 16:55, 30 March 2008
Aesthetics is a discipline of philosophy which deals with understanding aesthetic evaluation and judgment through the application of reason. Aesthetics does not make judgments about the quality of works of art, but rather tries to apply reason to judgments others make about art. Aesthetic philosophers will tend to be interested in questions such as "what criteria do people use to discern art from non-art and are they reasonable?" and "what is it which we are talking about when we talk about expressivity in art?"
Traditionally, aesthetics and ethics have been tied together - in the common 'triple' phrasing of truth, justice and beauty. Plato, in The Republic, proposed banning poetry and drama from his envisioned city - or at least keeping them under a strict censorial leash, lest they shape the upbringing of the Guardians and Auxiliaries in a way that would not lead to the good of the city. Plato's view of art as being purely imitation of nature does not cover more modern and non-representative art, such as that of, say, Jackson Pollock or Henri Matisse.