INTRODUCING THE PHILOSOPHERS Aesthetics (repeat)

Important: First please read about the aims and requirements of this group in What we're about. To find it click on blue Introducing the Philosophers above.

The branch of philosophy known as aesthetics is concerned with our perception of beauty, whether in art or nature, and more specifically with the nature of art and our human response to it. What is it for something to be beautiful, and what is the basis of our evaluation of works of art?
This meetup will try to deal with these questions. Our preparation consists of 3 parts.

1. Read the link. Pick the points you find more interesting, controversial etc and prepare to raise, defend or critique them.
   http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_aesthetics.html

2. Many philosophers over the centuries have expressed views on the nature of beauty and art. In very broad lines I quote some.
   a. Plato (Athens, Greece 428-348 BC). He talked about the ideal Forms of everything around us that exist outside the physical world. The objects we see around us are only copies, ephemeral imitations of their eternal, ideal Forms. An artist, when making or painting an object (a chair, a pot), is only producing a copy of the copy. Plato thus devalues art as it's very removed from the ideal Form. He further talked of the corrupting influence of such art and argued for censorship of music and poetry. He attacked tragedians for encouraging us to give way to our feelings when only reason should be encouraged to prevail.
   b. Francis Hutcheson (Scottish, 1694-1746) The idea of beauty is raised in us by external objects in whose external features there is uniformity amidst variety though we are often unaware of those features. His approach allows for the existence of both objective (the features of the world) and subjective elements (our response). The latter varies in degree and quality in each of us because the sense of beauty in us and hence our appreciation of external beauty also varies.
   c. David Hume (Scottish 1711-1776) He tried to find an objective standard of appreciation. He claimed that 'few are qualified to give judgement on any work of art or establish their sentiment as the standard of beauty. Innate aptitude and assiduous training are required'. However, he acknowledges that a 'completely uniform set of universal standards is impossible; what appeals to us depends on our circumstances and disposition'.
   d. Immanuel Kant (German 1724-1804) Only our delight in the beautiful is 'disinterested and free delight'. He defined the beautiful as 'an object of delight apart from any interest'.
   e. Ludwig Wittgenstein (Austrian-British 1889-1951) He argued against the tendency to emphasise the effect of a work of art on the recipient. This, he says, suggests the work of art itself is somehow unimportant. He also tried to encourage us to move away from concentrating on inner feelings and impressions and to look outwards to the role aesthetic judgements play in our interpersonal life in the wider social context.

3. The questions below are meant to help us focus on some points but do bring up anything else you consider important.
   How do we decide if something is art? Is there good and bad art? Or just art?
   Are beauty and art necessarily interconnected? Think of traditional art up to early 20th century and conceptual art.
   Painting and sculpture are considered art. What about literature, poetry and music? What do they have in common, if anything?
   Should art be a faithful representation of reality? And not just in the visual arts. Think about magical realism in Latin American literature.
   How do we explain the different views of the philosophers above on the value of art and ways of appreciating it?
   Kant suggests artistic appreciation is in a class of its own unrelated to other moral and social concerns. High Art is self-justifying and outside mundane values. What do you think?
   In denoting something, to what extent do art and aesthetics overlap with the philosophy of language and meaning?