OUTLINE by Paul Nervy Copyright (c) 2006 by Paul Nervy Visit www.paulnervy.com. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww ARTS IN GENERAL Contents Philosophy of art. Psychology of art Sociology of art Politics and law of art Economics and business of art. History of art. Themes in art. History of art theory (see History database). wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Philosophy of Art. Aesthetics. wwwwwwwwww Aesthetics. (1) Aesthetics described as the philosophy of art and the philosophy of beauty. (2) Aesthetics described as the scientific study of what humans find attractive, appealing or beautiful. Aesthetics includes: Metaphysics of aesthetics. Epistemology of aesthetics. Ethics of aesthetics. Aesthetics includes the philosophies of the individual arts: Philosophy of literature Philosophy of visual arts Philosophy of music Philosophy of movies Philosophy of other arts Theories of aesthetics. wwwwwwwwww Art and Nature. Art defined as a man made thing. Art as an object of aesthetic inquiry. Nature defined as not a man made thing. Nature as an object of aesthetic inquiry. wwwwwwwwww Aesthetic experience. Aesthetic object. Aesthetic value. Realist views of aesthetic values. Objectivist views. Universal. Anti realist views of aesthetic value. Subjectivist. Relativist. Aesthetic judgement or reasoning. Aesthetic attitude. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Art. Is there such a thing as art? What is art? How does art differ from non-art? Theories of art. Mimetic theories of art. Mimetic theories of art hold that the primary function of art is to imitate or mirror reality. The word mimesis is synonymous with the word imitate. Mimetic theories of art are an attempt to explain the style of art known as realism. An example of realism in art is when a person tries to draw exactly the way something looks. Mimetic theories of art have to address the issue of representation in art. Mimetic theories of art have trouble explaining arts like music which do not obviously imitate anything. Mimetic theories of art have trouble explaining non-realistic styles of art like abstract expressionistic painting. Formal theories of art. Formal theories of art say that what makes an object art is the object having formal attributes such as symetry, proportion. wwwwwwwwww Object-centered definitions of art. Art as artworks. Artist-centered definitions of art. Audience-centered definitions of art. wwwwwwwwww Psychological theories of art. Psychological theories of art hold that art is primarily a psycological phenomena. One type of view is that art as therapeutic. Art provides catharisis. Expressionist theories of art. Expressionist theories of art hold that art is primarily about the expression of emotion. Intentional theories of art. Intentional theories of art hold that art is primarily about the intention of the artist. Cognitive theories of art. A cognitive theory of art holds that art is primarily about the propositions, ideas, thoughts, that an artist had and that an artwork transmits. wwwwwwwwww Sociological theories of art. Sociological theories of art focus on the sociological concepts involved in art such as communication, economics, politics, history, and social interaction, society and culture. Audience centered theories of art. Art defined as what the audience makes of an artwork. Communicative theories of art. Communicative theories of art focus on the communicative aspects of art. (1) Semiotics. (2) Representation. (3) Meaning. What do we mean when we say that an artwork has meaning. (4) Language. Can we say there is a language of visual images? Can we say there is a language of musical sound? It seems we can and do. In what way are pictures and music languages? (5) Interpretation. All art is interpreted by its audience. Language centered views of art. Semiotics and art. Meaning and art. Representation. wwwwwwwwww Institution-centered theories of art. George Dickie. Arthur Danto. The art world. Art as a social concept. History theories of art. Art has a historical nature. The art world proceeds through time. Art is an ongoing phenomena. Hegelian dialectic views of art. Harold Bloom's theory of literature. Art defined as fine art. Arts viewed as non-utilitarian. Art distinguished from craft. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Views that art matters. Art should be taught in schools. The argument that art matters because people buy art. There is money in art. Views that art does not matter. Deflationary views of art. View that art is inferior to philosophy and science. wwwwwwwwww Aesthetic autonomy. Aesthetics as a separate realm. Art is separate from ethics. Aestheticism. Art for arts sake. vs. Views of art as inseparable from other areas of life. Views of art as implicitly related to ethics. Views of art as implicitly related to politics. 7/15/2004 wwwwwwwwww Beauty Beauty defined as a pleasing aesthetic quality. Beauty defined as that which we find appealing or attractive. What things are beautiful? wwwwwwwwww Art work. wwwwwwwwww Artist wwwwwwwwww Audience wwwwwwwwww Nature. Environmental aesthetics. Aesthetics of nature. Non-art aesthetics. wwwwwwwwww Ineffability. Unspeakable. Wordless. Sublime wwwwwwwwww Representation. Depiction. Resemblance. Mimesis. Form Language and pictorial art. Goodman wwwwwwwwww Art world. George Dickie. wwwwwwwwww End of art. Arthur Danto wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Various approaches to art. These approaches can be used in visual arts, literature, and other arts. Realism Depict a thing exactly. A mirror image. Impressionism. Depict a thing as it looks under various atmospheric conditions. Expression. Depict an internal psychological state. Art as feeling Abstraction. Absence of representation. Depict a thing striped of its concrete surface details. Symbolism In the artwork things stand for other things. Formalism Focus on the artwork itself, without reference to an outside world. Focus on the relation of the elements within the artwork itself. Symmetry. Balance. Harmony. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Metaphysics and art What is art? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Epistemology and art Interpretation Translation. Criticism Understanding. Hermeneutics Deconstruction Truth in art. Fiction wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Ethics and art. The mistake of conflating the beautiful and the good. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Philosophy of other art forms Interactive vs. non-interactive art. Computer games Virtual reality wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww PSYCHOLOGY AND ART wwwwwwwwww Sensation, perception and aesthetics. Emotion and aesthetics. Thinking and aesthetics. Attitude and aesthetics. wwwwwwwwww Psychoanalysis and art. Freud. Jung. Rorschach tests. What do these pictures mean? Word association tests. Catharsis and art. Art as healthy. Art as reducing neurosis. Neurosis and art. Art as an expression of neurosis. Art as a cause of neurosis? wwwwwwwwww Originality Creativity Imagination wwwwwwwwww Intention. Intentions of the artist. Intentional fallacy Intentions of the audience. wwwwwwwwww Visual arts. Perception Perspective Illusion wwwwwwwwww Thought and art. Aesthetic judgment See also, aesthetic attitude. wwwwwwwwww Emotion and art. Pleasure, aesthetic. Humor. Aesthetic unease. wwwwwwwwww Aesthetic attitude wwwwwwwwww Aesthetic experience wwwwwwwwww Taste The taste of the artist. The tastes of the audience. The tastes of the critic, collector or connoisseur. The tastes of the masses, the public. wwwwwwwwww Style wwwwwwwwww Aesthetic education. What are the effects or result of educating oneself in the arts? Art in the schools. What are the effects of formal education in the arts? What are the effects of lack of formal education in the arts? Cutbacks in art education, specifically music, visual arts, literature, etc. Cutbacks in the humanities in general, specifically philosophy. It can't be good. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Sociology and art wwwwwwwwww Role of art in a society or culture. Art as "culture". wwwwwwwwww Gatekeepers: media critics, galleries, museums, academia wwwwwwwwww Pornography wwwwwwwwww Obscenity wwwwwwwwww Museums. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Politics and art Censorship Propaganda Governments can either supress or promote the arts. Freedom of speech. Freedom to criticize the government. The art that artists make, and that audiences choose to consume, reflects the political views of both artist and audience. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Economics and art. The art business. Is the price of famous artworks justified? Is a work of art over-valued or under-valued? Can money be used to value art? Or are great works of art priceless? Advertising and art. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww History and art. Art history. The arts, like all of society, has a historical dimension. The arts develop in a historical context. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Cannon. wwwwwwwwww Popular art. wwwwwwwwww Art criticism. Critics and the arts. wwwwwwwwww Aesthetics of cultures. Eastern vs. Western aesthetics wwwwwwwwww The various arts. How do the various arts differ from each other? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Evolutionary views of aesthetics. Artistic ability is an adaptive, biologically evolved ability. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Themes in art. There are recurrent themes found in many works of art, even across the various forms of literature, music, visual arts, movies, etc. Life is short. Death is inevitable. Appearances can be deceiving. Nature needs to be cared for. Artists struggle. Search for meaning. The bad. Xenophobia, bigotry, excessive nationalism and excessive patriotism are bad. Classism is bad. War is bad. Rampant militarism is bad. Rampant bureaucracy is bad. Power corrupts. Abuse of power is bad. Wealth can corrupt. Empty, arbitrary social conventions are bad. Empty, hypocritical and corrupt religion is bad. Slavery is bad. Racism is bad. Totalitarianism is bad. Rampant capitalism is bad. Alienation, isolation and loneliness is bad. Oppression of women is bad. Imperialism is bad. Oppression and exploitation is bad. The superficial, shallow, trite, pretentious, affected, corrupted and hypocritical is bad. Rampant industrialization is bad. Exploitation of nature. Exploitation of workers. The good. Individualism is good. Happiness is good. Friends are good. Freewill is good. Knowledge is good. Thinking is good. Truth is good Justice is good Communication is good. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww History of aesthetics. Art theorists (see History database) Anglo-American theories of art. Empiricist theories of art. Art as explainable by science. Pragmatic theories of art. Continental theories of art. Hermeneutics and art. Phenomenolgy and art. Existentialism and art. Deconstruction and art.