NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Philosophy of Aesthetic 1) Aristotle's main concern in the Poetics is to redeem the arts from Plato's criticism of their value in human society. Aristotle succeeds in his concern to some extent because his justification for the concern may be questioned if to look at the issue from some other prospective. This work by Aristotle is considered to be the first example of criticism in literary tradition. Firstly Aristotle defines tragedy in his masterpiece and gives some basic insight into it. According to Aristotle, tragedy is an imitation of an action that is a whole and complete in itself and of a certain magnitude. Aristotle also points out terms such as catharsis, which can be said that is the purification of ones soul.
He argues in his Poetics that catharsis is achieved through emotions of pity or fear, which is created in the audience as they witness the tragedy of a character that suffers unjustly, but is not entirely innocent. For most drama and verse, Aristotle's rules are a fairly good measure of the quality of a piece of written work. In modern day however (modern meaning within the last century), certain changes in the nature of dramatic writing have started opening a gap between Aristotelian criticism and what is actually being produced on the stage. Changes in values and techniques brought about by Stanislavski and some leaders of the popular feminist movement have shifted the direction of theatre.
In light of these changes some of Aristotle's rules are not applicable anymore. That is not to say that they are not sound. They simply do not apply. Sharon Pollock, one of Canadas great female playwrights and a strong leader of the popular feminist movement, is one example of a writer that breaks Aristotle's mold. Her play Blood Relations sits on the edge of what Aristotle would call tragedy. Aristotle states that the form of tragedy is an imitation of a noble and complete action, having the proper magnitude (Aristotle 6).
According to the rules laid down in Poetics, pity and fear arise through misfortune and the recognition of the possibility of falling upon similar misfortune (13). In Blood Relations, pity arises out of the way that Lizzie is treated by her parents and by the way her life turns out after the murders. The reader recognizes that he or she could encounter the same circumstance. Lizzie was fairly stable and snapped into a murderous rage with no prior warning. The fact that she gains no reward for her actions adds to the tragedy of the plot but strays from Aristotle's stipulation that a villainous character must not fall into bad luck from good (13). Lizzie's loss of her family ultimately drives her into a life of loneliness and misery.
Furthermore, on the subject of pity and fear, Aristotle professes that truly pitiable occurrences take place between close relations. Parent-child relationships are about the closest relationships that there are. There is no choral section. Therefore, there is no episode.
The entire play could be referred to as a complete exode, that is, one complete section of a tragedy after which there is no song of the chorus (12). If Plato was able to give his opinion concerning Aristotle's critics he would probably try to he would probably argue with Aristotle at some points of his statements. For example Plato would probably be disappointed with the fact that Aristotle supports the notion of beauty being present in all humans and it is not beyond their perception. In Plato's opinion of art he says that art is here to increase the world of untrue experiences by creating images of images and illusions of illusions. He continues to say that if the world of direct sense experience is untrue and unreal in some sense, the world created by art is even more so and that by increasing human deception about reality and by appealing to emotions and feelings, therefore, art in whatever form should have no part in an ideal human community. Plato does not support the aesthetic notions present in minds of most of the people.
According to my opinion, Aristotle's critics look more solid and find more evidence of support in nowadays aesthetic appreciation than those of Plato. Thus I would suggest that Aristotle is more justified in his approach towards philosophy of aesthetics because his approach is more concerned with modern development, whereas Plato's approach is more conservative and has less approval. This may be explained by the fact that Aristotle was a student of Plato, and he gained Plato's knowledge, but also gained some contemporary knowledge on his own, which at some points did not collaborate with Plato's point of view. 2) According to my opinion, philosophy of aesthetics can be explained as art appreciation. This is because art usually represents what is really pure and beautiful amongst peoples achievements. Beauty in art is what enhances individual senses to makes us feel all our senses are united as one. When these traits come together you are in presence of a work of art in my mind and the definition of aesthetics in art.
I feel that the reason aesthetics is understood as a philosophical endeavor is because we as a society need to put a label on or problems to help develop a strategy that will help conquer these problems. So to start a branch in philosophy directed towards the arts, or anything that is meant to capture beauty or criticism should be arranged in a system of criticism. Criticism, which in particular judgments are singled out and their logic and justification displayed, is why it is and will continue to be an endeavor. I feel an artist role in society is to portray a objective and subjective view about his work before and after his work is completed to give a fair assessment to the public of how he sees the world. The first aesthetic theory of any sort is that of Plato, who believed that reality consists of archetypes, or forms, beyond human sensation, which are the models for all things that exist in human experience.
The 18 th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant was concerned with judgments of taste. Objects are judged beautiful, he proposed, when they satisfy a desire, one that does not involve personal interests or needs. The basis for one's response to beauty exists in the structure of one's mind. Traditional aesthetics in the 18 th and 19 th centuries was dominated by the concept of art as imitation of nature. In traditional aesthetics it was also frequently assumed that art objects are useful as well as beautiful. I think aesthetics are very important in life, because without a personal sense of beauty, expression could be lost in their art, work, music, etc.
I think aesthetics are the base on which expression is built; you cant express yourself if you dont even know anything about yourself, which is aesthetics. But at the same time too much aesthetics could be unfavorable. If you care too much about yourself then you arent using aesthetics right, so in conclusion aesthetics can help you achieve personal sense of beauty and allow you to express yourself and your ideas and thoughts. If you look up the definition of aesthetics it will probably say to some extent, the particular idea of what is beautiful or artistic. The problem with this is the word beautiful can mean different things to two different people. So an individual determines the value of the word.
This is why there is so much variation in our assessments of the value of works of art. Subjective and objective theories of aesthetic are a way of separating different approaches. An objective theory claims that aesthetic value is in the property of the artwork itself. The fact that we do reach agreement on the value of so many works suggests that somehow there is an objective basis for our judgments.
The subjective theory claims that aesthetic value is simply a matter of the psychological effect on or the attitude of the observer and these vary considerably from observer to observer. If aesthetic value is subjective, why do we so often try to persuade friends of the value of a work of art that we believe they have overlooked? Plato's rationalism is the conviction that the truth and the real world are disclosed through the use of the mind alone. Now if Plato is so concerned with reality and the metaphysics of the world why doesnt he appreciate art that is produced unconsciously in our minds through direct sense experience and is created into a physical art form? Are we as artist not trying to take the unreal and trying to make real? Are we not trying to create the world around us through the dreams and illusions we cant not deny we have, but to try to give reason and cause for them?
Is this what philosophers have been doing since the beginning of written language in trying to give reason for things? If Plato understood that no on perceives an apple in the same way. Why doesnt he perceive that an art form has reason in other peoples mind that he might not be able to relate to? My point is simple and that is Plato is one man with an opinion in a world of many men with opinions. What makes his opinion have meaning to himself is his ability to manipulate language to convey a reason for his opinion. I value his opinion to the highest degree but do not agree with it.
Because in my mind I say art is art and every person may perceive it in his particular way, no matter what a persons aesthetic knowledge and education is. Bibliography: Aristotle. Poetics. The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Ed.
David H. Richter. 2 nd. Ed. Boston: Bedford, 1998. Pollock, Sharon. Blood Relations and Other Plays.
Edmonton: New West Press, 1981. Kotusenko, Jacob. Aristotle's Arguments Concerning Art Appreciation, from Ontario Statesman Magazine, issue April 2001.
Free research essays on topics related to: work of art, aesthetic value, pity and fear, feminist movement, sense experience
Research essay sample on Pity And Fear Work Of Art
