Particularly since the start of the 18th century, philosophers began to reflect on the question of art resulting in the emergence of ‘aesthetics’ as an independent philosophical discipline. This has resulted in the formation of various theories of and perspectives on the ‘nature’ of art –...
,Week 1: Introduction: what is aesthetics?
Historical roots of aesthetics
Until mid-1700s
- Thinking about art as old as philosophy
- Medieval and renaissance authors discussed the nature of art and beauty.
o Philosophical theology
o Neo-platonic theory
- In the renaissance further development of art theory at academies
- However: aesthetics NOT see as an independent philosophical discipline
18th century
- Establishment of aesthetics as independent as a philosophical discipline
o autonomization of art (enlightenment)
o Consequently: The crisis of aesthesis norms
o Emergence of modern sciences
> Growing out of and against Enlightenment: Romanticism & Bildung
- Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten
o Used ‘aesthetics’ for the first time as ‘science of sense knowledge.’
▪ Derived from Greek > sense perception.
o Against traditional focus on reason in philosophy > against Enlightenment
o Scientific approach: establish the rules of artistic and natural beauty from
individual taste >out of Enlightenment.
What is aesthetics?
- Aisthesis: the science of sense perception > until the mid-1700s
- Aesthetics: a systematic study of aesthetic judgment> mid-1700s onwards
- Philosophy of art: critical reflection on the nature of art > late- 1700s onwards
- Current interest in aesthetics
o Last decades: philosophy of art and its renaissance
o Developments within modern art: avant-garde art, conceptual
o Developments within philosophy: postmodernism, the ‘end of art’, crisis of
legitimacy
o Most current discussions:
▪ Art beyond the End of art: Form Postmodernism to post-
postmodernism (metamodernism)
▪ Participatory turn in contemporary art: artis as a sociologist, yet what
about aesthetics?
▪ Art-based research: use of tools from the arts and humanities in social
sciences
- Philosophy of art vs. sciences
o Distinction: empirical vs. philosophical questions
o Art historical approach
Art history:
▪ What technical means were used to reach the effect that the work
has?
AESTHETICS -SUMMARY | By Rosa Craane
, ▪ To what extent did the artist deviate from the mainstream norms of
the time?
▪ How does thus the depiction of war scenes fit in the history of war
scenes?
Philosophy:
▪ Should war scenes be portrayed?
▪ Are we able to perceive the emotion of the artist about the war
through this work of art?
o In short:
▪ The difference is determined formally, not materially.
▪ Aesthetic judgments are always normative statements.
▪ Philosophical question transcends empirical observation.
- Philosophy of art vs art criticism:
o 3 similarities
▪ Both disciplines are normative by nature
▪ Aesthetics are in the development of their theory often determined by
their taste.
▪ Aesthetic judgments in art criticism often rely in aesthetic theory.
o Principal distinction: the (art criticism) vs. the general (aesthetics)
- New meanings
o The underlying factor that contributes to aesthetic experience > experimental
aesthetics > science
o The systematic study of stylistic and expressive elements, such as composition
and style> criticism
o The various ways that **beauty** can be studied, both experience and
perception of beauty
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