Philosophy Roundtable: Art

A painting that brings a person to tears. A banana worth 6.4 million dollars. A photograph ending a war. What is behind these phenomena? Please join us this Sunday to discuss the Philosophy of Art, where it comes from, what makes it powerful and why it is a universal across time and cultures.

We will meet at the Captain Melville at 2pm for a 2:15pm start sharp. Please note the new $5 mandatory donation entry fee (cash or transfer on day) to help with MeetUp subscription costs, venue costs, etc.

There is no pre-requisite preparation necessary, nor a philosophical background, all that is required is a curious mind. These discussions are both a Socrates Cafe style discussion and lively metaphysical dojo, in the spirit of learning and friendly debate, so please feel free to challenge assumptions and be prepared to have your own assumptions challenged.

This event is also posted to the Socrates Cafe group.

We will explore the topic through a range of questions, including:

What is Art?

• What comes to mind when we use the word ‘Art’? What are the categories of objects or activities that you would consider to be art?
• Which of these are art?: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1_1nl2_GKbGzzSbXsRRsnAZlkmNVqWPjm

Emotion

• Is art a luxury or necessity in life? Is it essential to happiness?
• Why is art so effective at making us feel powerful emotions, even when we know it doesn’t represent reality? Are these ‘true’ emotions, or somehow different / simulated?
• Why do we sometimes seek our art that makes us feel sad?

Objectivity

• Is there such a thing as objectively bad art?
• Are there intrinsic properties that make something aesthetic (beautiful)? Are they universal?
• Are there objective standards of ‘taste’? Can one person be said to have better taste than another? If so, on what basis or criteria?

Value

• What gives art its value? Why do we consider replicas differently? Is naturally occurring beauty different to art?
• What compels humans towards art? Is there an evolutionary / biological explanation for the seemingly wasteful expenditure of resources on outputs that have no practical function?

Creativity

• Are only humans able to appreciate art?
• Are only humans creative?
• Is there such a thing as something truly new, or is every idea or expression a recombination of existing inputs into a different configuration of outputs?
• Can a machine be creative? If not, what is the constraint?
• Could we ever regard AI-creativity in the same way as that of a human?

Hope to see you there!