Video Review

The video Aesthetics : Philosophy of the Arts discusses the development of aesthetic thought and ideas and gives us a historical framework by which the relationship between art and beauty has been analyzed. Original theory begins with Plato, whose discussion of beauty in relation to theatre would set the stage for philosophical thought on this idea of defining beauty, as well as the role of art and artists in society. While Plato actually thought that artists did not serve any useful purpose in society, his work would inspire Aristotle to create his influential book The Poetics. Aristotle claimed that art, in its depiction of heroism, was good for society, and he established a set of priciples neccessary in the creation of beauty - order, symmetry, and definiteness. These elements, along with proportion and harmony, would become a theme which would dominate the works of NeoClassical masters during the renaissance and continue to be relevant to some degree as art evolved. The modern theory of art, which began in 18th century England, would see other philosophers, such as Kant, Hutheson, Friedrich von Schiller, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein develop our understanding of beauty as being subjective, and closely connected to our sense of emotions and connection to nature. While the video presents many philosophers of aesthetics who have made great contributions to the study of art, I was particularly interested in the ideas of Friedrich von Schiller who, near the end of the 18th century, promoted the importance of an aesthetic education with the intent of developing an appreciation and understanding of the arts to strengthen the moral capacity of a free society. His idea that  "art makes us more human", and his passion to impress upon society an appreciation of the arts can have important implications in modern society, especially as we increasingly look to better our antiquated and failing education system.

The video Carta: Neurobiology, Neurology and Art and Aesthetics takes a more scientific approach to understanding the creation and effect of art. Jean-Pierre Changeux discusses the rules of art creation, by which he describes as being the restrictions of potential representations in the artists' brain and consisting of novelty or surprise, the universal search for harmony, symmetry, concept, and schematization. Changeux is also primarily concerned with the creation and evolution of art by means of genetically encoded symbolic forms and the nonverbal communication of emotion, knowledge, and experience. Ramachandran also discusses this "science" of art, focusing his attention to the way the human brain reacts to imagery. Ramachandran argues for the liberation of realism, suggesting that the deliberate distortion of imagery has a pleasing effect on the brain. He also developed his eight laws of aesthetics, by which he claims are universal rules for a work of art to achieve that pleasing effect on the brain. While I found much of what both speakers discussed very interesting and helpful to my own development, I cannot help but think back to the opening remarks of Ramachandran when he stated that art and science found a middle ground in the brain. It seems to me, considering some of the fundamental and common principles put forth by the philosophers of aesthetic thought, that science has only confirmed to some degree what artists have been doing for centuries.

The readings in our text relate to the videos in the attempt to understand the definition of art, to understand the motivating factors or the need to create works of art, and to help us understand how we relate to works of art both emotional and intellectually.