Welcome to the philosophical study of aesthetics!

1. Welcome to the philosophical study of aesthetics! An inquiry into the nature, values, perils, and pursuit of that which is beautiful.

2. BEAUTY IS SYMMETRY, PROPORTION, & HARMONY Beauty is that which evokes positive feelings! I am beautiful!!! Beauty is what the art-world decides!Beauty is power Beauty is lost in translation! Beauty is stranger than fiction! Beauty is what is relative to culture There is no beauty! There is only death. Beauty is Within You

3. THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE What is beautiful? I am beautiful!!! Beauty is Inconvenient!Beauty is power Beauty is lost in translation! Beauty is stranger than fiction! Ugly is out of style! There is no beauty! The Truth is Within You

4. Why did you react to this picture the way you did? What is your justification for this reaction? Consider…

7. “Philosophers start with the sense of wonder, and press its questions as far as they can, trying to find satisfying answers.” ~ David Clowney Caspar David Friedrich, German Romantic Painter, 1774-1840; “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog,” 1818

8. What does your reactions say about you? • We explore the reactions you experienced? • We also inquire into what our beliefs are about beauty/ugliness, why we have them, where do they come from, and where do go with them. Consider these questions:

9. Questions within questions: • What do we mean when we say something is “beautiful”? • What do we mean when we say something is “ugly.” • What is art and what is non-art? • How is beauty/ugliness related to our identity and our becoming? • What is the relationship between art and nature? • Should there be a relationship between art and morality? • What is a work of art? • What characteristics must an object have in order for you to consider it to be a work of art? • Should certain art-forms be forbidden for the benefit of the community? • Are there “universal signatures” of aesthetic values, ones that transcend time, space, and cultures? • What criteria should one have to evaluate art-forms?

10. Questions within questions: • What do we mean when we say something is “beautiful”? • What do we mean when we say something is “ugly.” • What is art and what is non-art? • How is beauty/ugliness related to our identity and our becoming? • What is the relationship between art and nature? • Should there be a relationship between art and morality? • What is a work of art? • What characteristics must an object have in order for you to consider it to be a work of art? • Should certain art-forms be forbidden for the benefit of the community? • Are there “universal signatures” of aesthetic values, ones that transcend time, space, and cultures? • What criteria should one have to evaluate art-forms?

11. What is aesthetics? • “Aesthetics may be defined narrowly as the theory of beauty, or more broadly as that together with the philosophy of art.” ~ Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy • “Aesthetics…. consists of two parts: the philosophy of art, and the philosophy of the experience and character of objects or phenomena that are not art.” ~ Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy

12. What is “aesthetics?” • The word “aesthetics” was first coined by the German philosopher Alexander Baumgarten (1717-1762). It was him that brought about the modern use of the term “aesthetics.” • The word “aesthetics” itself is ultimately derived from the Greek word “aesthesis” which means perception. • Before this term “aesthetics” was used, the philosophy of beauty was referred to as the “theory of taste” or “criticism of taste.”

13. What is “aesthetics?” • The oldest surviving discussion of beauty in the field of philosophical aesthetics is found in Hippias Major of Plato (Early Dialogues; 390 BC?), in which the sophist Hippias vainly attempts to provide Socrates a satisfactory definition of beauty.

14. What is aesthetics? • ““In a philosophy of art, or in philosophical aesthetics, more generally speaking, beauty and art are understood in terms of essential philosophical ideas, while philosophy itself is taken to be at least in part constituted by aesthetic reflection. Thus the great philosophies of art have interpreted beauty and art in metaphysical terms as a natural expression of the belief that philosophy is born in the aspiration and understanding of the beautiful. As Croce has said, ‘from this character of aesthetics it follows that its history cannot be separated from that of philosophy at large, from which aesthetics receives light and guidance, and gives back light and guidance in its turn.’ However, not all philosophers and not all forms of philosophy give equal weight to aesthetics and philosophy of art; hence the historically spotty and discontinuous character of the selections.”

15. Why does Art matter? • Why Does Art Matter? • Some answers that have been given:- Just for its own sake, because we love to experience it- As entertainment- As training for the soul (Plato, especially in regard to music)- As training for other things- As a tourist attraction, or an attractive way to sell things- As a mode of communication of the human spirit, different from other available modes because it uses images and symbols- As a demonstration that the world has an order and purpose to it beyond what we can rationally explain or know (Kant)- As a prophetic challenge to society- As therapy- As decoration- As a way to see the world- As play (this would include the "free play" idea of Kant and Schiller)

16. Answers questions… • Aesthetics is the philosophy of art. It's a discipline that tries to answer questions like: • What is art? • What makes art different from non-art? • What sort of values are aesthetic values? • Are aesthetic values completely relative? Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? • What's the relation of art to beauty? To meaning? To shock value? To religion? To . . . • Why have a philosophy of art? Do you need it to... • Make better art? Probably not (but your philosophy of art will probably influence the kind of art you make) • Understand and appreciate art? Probably not (but studying aesthetics may help you appreciate art) • Evaluate art? Yes, in a way; because art criticism usually assumes a philosophy of art. What you say about art woks may be better, and more useful to others, if you know what your philosophy is and why you prefer it to the alternatives. Aesthetics is also the philosophy of art criticism. • Perhaps it is best to see the philosophy of art as an essential part of a culture's practice and appreciation of art. It is one of the ways in which a culture becomes aware of what it believes and assumes about art. The stories a culture tells about its art are the context in which its art has meaning. No stories, no art. That doesn't make the stories more important than the art! But as soon as there was art there would be a story about it, too. So inventing, revising and understanding the stories are activities essential to art making. And that's what Aesthetics helps to do. • Included in this site are thumbnail sketches of stories about the arts told by many of the philosophers (and artists and critics and others) who have had an influence on the way we do, see and think about the arts today. Check them out!

17. Motive & Need: Consider this illustration by Albert Hofstadter & Richard Kuhns: Beyond our natural desire to understand the human activity of the making and enjoyment of art, there is a profound motive and primitive need behind philosophies of art. A powerful analogy immediately comes to men [and women] when they think of themselves and the universe they inhabit: the maker of the universe and the object he makes are like the human maker and his artifact. The order and harmony of the cosmos are like the beauty of art. Somehow man participates in the ordering of the universe in his power to make and to respond to art objects. Thus, early philosophies of art and beauty are intermixed with cosmological inquiries and it is only relatively late in the development of philosophy that the philosophy of art can be thought of as distinct from ontology and theology. The greatest philosophies of art, then, are part of broader inquiries into man and nature. ~ Philosophies of Art & Beauty: Plato to Heidegger, xiii.

18. Is there purpose to my life? Where am I going? What am I? Wbo am I? What is truth? Where did I come from? What’s gone wrong with the world? Why do we exist? Do I have value? How do we know what is right from wrong? God? Are you there?

19. Why begin aesthetics here? A worldview is your habituated way of seeing and doing. It is the “big picture” that directs your daily behavior and actions. It is your ground-floor assumptions that are foundational to everything else.

20. What is a worldview? “A worldview is a conceptual theme by which we consciously or unconsciously place or fit everything we believe and by which we interpret.” ~ Ronald Nash, Faith and Reason

21. Do you know what you believe and why? Do you really know what you don’t believe and why?

22. What is a worldview? “A person’s worldview contains two important features. First, it includes the set of beliefs the person accepts, especially those about important matters such as reality, God, value, knowledge, and so on. But a worldview is more than just a set of beliefs….a worldview includes the rational structure that occurs among the set of beliefs that constitute it. Some beliefs are central and basic, while others are relatively peripheral.”

23. What is a worldview? “In general, the more central a belief is, the greater would be the change in one’s worldview if the belief were abandoned. Central beliefs support and give justification to more peripheral ones. J.P. Moreland, Kingdom Triangle, 33.

24. What is a worldview? “Less central are beliefs about local church structure, the nature of spiritual gifts, and so on. In understanding a worldview, it is important to grasp the relevant set of ideas along with the various support relations that take place among them.” J.P. Moreland, Kingdom Triangle, 33.

26. The Formation of a Worldview

27. For Review: What is a worldview? A worldview is the sum-total of our foundational assumptions/beliefs you have, especially those about important matters such as God, truth, reality, knowledge, humanity, ethics, & evil.

28. For Review: What is a worldview? Some ground-level assumptions are crucial whereas others are peripheral. But a worldview is more than just fundamental assumptions/beliefs-they function as a set of habits, directing your daily decisions & behavior.

29. Please take out a sheet a paper and pen and I want you to do the following: Write down what you see:

34. How are worldviews formed?

35. 1. A worldview is formed informally

36. 2. A Worldview is formed uncritically:

37. 3. A worldview is formed inter-generationally? What kind of legacy will you leave behind?

38. 4. A worldview is formed by shared community of belief, customs, setting, etc.

39. 5. A Worldview is formed over Time:

40. 6. A worldview is formed by habits: Consider the following statements…

41. Consider the words of Benjamin Franklin: "I've met the enemy, and it is me."

42. Consider the words of Benjamin Franklin: "While my attention was taken up and care employed in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another. Habit took the advantage of inattention. Inclination was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded at length that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous was not sufficient to prevent our slipping, and that the contrary habits must be broken and good ones acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct."

43. Aristotle argued for the ethical “Doctrine of the Mean”: moderation: Drive Too little Just right Too much Fear cowardly courageous rash Pleasure self-indulgent self-controlled insensitive Material goods stingy generous extravagant Self-esteem vain high-minded small-minded Anger short-tempered gentle apathetic Sociability flattery friendly grouchy Boasting boastful truthful self-deprecating Humor clownish witty boring Drive for honor ambitious ? Unambitious Proper honor? Spending grudging magnificent vulgar

44. Your worldview: is impacted by the following: • Presuppositions; • Preunderstandings; • Contextual Setting.

45. What is molding your worldview? .

46. What are the elements of your worldview: Your view of God Your view of truth Your view of reality Your view of knowledge Your view of ethics Your view of humanity Your view of evil

47. Here’s how to evaluate the worldview of others: What are we? Where did we come from? What’s gone wrong with the world? What can we do to fix it?

48. What is real? What are the nature & limits of knowledge? Who is well-off? What is is the good life? Who is really a good person? How does one become a good person?

49. Please take out another sheet a paper and pen and I want you to do the following: Write down what you see: