Philosophy of Art Fall 02-reading

Philosophy of Art--Readings

p.127-8: History of the idea of "fine arts" vs. "crafts."
129: How his idea of "expression" is related to his understanding of "art."
130-131: "art proper" as expressing individual emotion (what does this mean?)
133: What is the "aim" of art, if not to produce some effect in the audience, according to Collingwood?
134-136: Art as "imaginary object"--explain

137-138: How art became separated and isolated from our everyday life
141: How this separation is "not intrinsic to art" but due to "extrinsic factors" (what are some of these factors?)
142: In contrast to the remote and isolated ("sterilized") conception of art, art is part of other experiences. Prefigured in the very process of living. Part of our engagement with nature
145: What is important in the "esthetic" experience? (Is the perspective of the audience important?) How should an artist produce a work of art? In what way could this be "loving?"
145: Art is "on-going experience"
145: Artists embody the attitude of the perceiver
147-8: Art as dynamic, integrated process, development--explain
In what way does Dewey contrast with Collingwood? (Take note of the role of the audience in their theories)

115: Meaning of "aesthetics" as personal experience of a peculiar emotion--explain "aesthetic emotion"--how is this "subjective?"
118: Art is "significant form"--explain
120: Difference between "descriptive art" vs. real "works of art"
121: In what way are representative elements irrelevant to works of art?
124: In what way is "significant form" beyond history, "accidents of time and space?" What does this mean? For great art, "its kingdom is not of this world."

4-5: Explain the "bed example"--what is his point, regarding what a painting of a bed amounts to?
8: Paintings (and other art) are three times removed from the truth--explain
8: Imitator has no real knowledge--explain why a painter is a mere imitator and why no real knowledge
9: What is the "best part of the soul," and in what way imitation consorts with the inferior parts? What are these parts of the soul?
10: In what way are we better off not getting too excited about misfortunes? How are we supposed to handle it instead?
9-10: How should a sould be ruled, guided, and controlled? What part of our soul is closest to the truth?
11: Imitative poets appeal to the inferior parts of the soul--how? What does this mean?
12: In what way do artists corrupt the soul? How do they contribute to nurturing the inferior part of the soul?

16-17: Art divided in terms of media, object, and mode (what are they?)
16-17: What is "mimesis?"
18: We have natural propensity for mimesis as well as get pleasure from it
19: Differences between comedy, epic, tragedy
21: Beauty as containing appropriate scale
22: Poetry is more philosophical and serious (universal) than history (particular)--explain
24: What makes a good plot-construction, for a better effect for creating tragedy?
25: What circumstances make the impressions of terror and pity?
26-27: What constitutes "failures" in poetry? (intrinsic vs contingent)

40: "All sentiment is right"--what does Hume mean, and how so?
40: In what way is understanding (knowledge) different from taste?
40: "Beauty is no quality in things themselves"--explain.
41: What is the foundation of taste? What does he mean, when he says that the rules of composition cannot be fixed a priori?
41: Poetry (and art) has its own way of "pleasing" us, despite its faults
42: To properly experience art, our state of mind must be in a proper mode to receive it.
42: Explain how he establishes that there are nevertheless general principles of what makes some artwork good and some bad, and that we may or may not be able to trace such qualities.
43: Is there certain qualities of beauty in objects? How is this related to our experiences of taste?
43: What is "delicacy of taste?"
44: Only a few are fitted to give opinions about taste (those with finer taste)--could we cultivate such traits?

87-89: Apolline vs Dionysian art--what are the characteristics of each?
91: In what way is Dionysiac energies related to "redemption?"
93: What does Nietzsche see as the relation between the "Olympian" gods and the Apolline instinct for beauty?
94: In what way is "Homeric naivete" a "victory of Apolline illusion?"
95 and 96 (illust): Explain Raphael's painting, Transfiguration (p.96), as containing both Apollian and Dionysian features
97: How are the Apolline and Dionysic energies related to each other?

100: "Beauty in the subjective sense" vs. "beauty in the objective sense"
100 (and 102): In what way is it impossible to define absolute beauty in itself? (What then is his understanding of beauty?)
"An objective definition of art does not exist"--explain
101: How do some pieces of art become "great works of art," as recognized by many?
102: In what way is beauty is not a helpful concept in defining art? Why not>
102-3: What then is Tolstoy's definition of art? What are "physiological-evolutionary definition," "practical definition," and "Sully's definition," and what's wrong with all of these?
103: On what is activity of art based? (His own definition of art.)
104: What is the subject of art?
105: In what way the "whole of human life is filled with works of art?" (What other author's view is this claim similar to?)
106: What is his criticism of those who rejected art (such as Plato)?

NOTE: Go first to pages 170-171, where Heidegger summarizes his main ideas. (Don't worry about the details, but focus on the main terms below.)
All from 170: The work of art involves "thingness," "equipment (158)," "world (164)," "work (162)," "earth (165)," and through all this, the work of art "reveals or unconceals truth (160, 166, truth as aletheia)." What do these terms refer to, and what does he mean, that art "reveals truth?"
Explain his discussion of Van Gough's painting of the pair of peasant boots (159). In what way is it "equipmental," reveals truth, "worldly," "earth-ly," etc?

192: What is the "logic" of the concept of art? How does this logic makes it impossible to define art?
193: What is the point of his discussion of "games?" In what way is the concept of "art" similar to the concept of "games?"
194: Art is an "open concept"--what does this mean? How does this make art indefinable?
195: What are the "descriptive" and the "evaluative" use of the concept of art?
197: How does he criticize Bell's theory of "art as significant form?"
198: Why is "criteria of evaluation" important?

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