Plato & Aristotle’s View of Art
According to Plato, art is an imitation of things in the real world. However, these things for the philosopher were only shadows of their ideal images. Therefore, art turns out to be even further from the truth than the surrounding world, which it imitates. That is, art is doubly deceptive since it is an imitation of imitation (Mitchell, 2019). The conflict between Plato and contemporary art consisted in the fact that the philosopher considered the attempt of artists to imitate reality to be pernicious.
Aristotle believed that art is based on the act of recognizing the true nature of things. The skill of the artist is manifested in such an act of recognition and gives aesthetic pleasure. At the same time, Aristotle emphasized the creative principle of art. The work of art that, in my opinion, think illustrates this idea is a sculpture of Venus de Milo (Mitchell, 2019). I think it captures the idea that people have an essential, shared human nature and that art reflects this reality for them. Despite the fact that this is a statue of a goddess, it is still made in the image and likeness of a person, remaining a copy of reality reflecting the surrounding phenomenon.
Schelling, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, & Heidegger’s View of Art
Unlike Plato, Schopenhauer believed that art could adequately convey the general idea, especially poetry and music. In his opinion, art is a world that unites nature and the realm of the will, and it introduces a person to the beautiful and sublime. Schelling considers art from the point of view of how the Ego can be aware of the initial harmony between the objective and the subjective, i.e., from the point of view of how the self-contemplation of the spirit is accomplished (Brück, 2021). The latter, according to Schelling, is possible only in the contemplation of works of art: a work of art is the product of genius.
Nietzsche designated two opposite principles of being and artistic creativity as Apollonian and dionistic. The Apollonian principle is the plastic images of fine arts and epic poetry. The diagnostic is music and lyrics. Proximity to nature, instinct, and passion means the Dionysian element in art, and the Apollonian principle helps to accept life through thinking (Brück, 2021). Heidegger rightly observes that the goal of art is not truth but beauty, whereas truth is the privilege of logic. On the other hand, it would be a mistake to believe that the truth of art is in an exact copy of the surrounding world. Heidegger’s initial attitude is that a phenomenon describes a true being, while a phenomenon does not seem to be what it is. A work of art that, in my opinion, illustrates the idea and captures the artichoke/post-modern idea is a portrait of Marilyn Monroe performed by Andy Warhol (Brück, 2021). Despite the fact that the painting depicts a real character, the woman in the painting is more an interpretation of the vision of her personality than an exact copy.
Avocado & Artichoke View
In my opinion, art can be regarded both as mimesis or representation (as in Platonism and Aristotelian aesthetics) and as a means of transforming the self and reality. I believe that each work of art has several levels of understanding. The impact on the viewer depends primarily on the level of his everyday worldview. I think art might be aspirational, allowing people to achieve catharsis, as Aristotle suggests. Not every work of art can cause a strong emotional shock to its viewers and listeners, and not all people have a sufficiently high level of cultural and emotional background to succumb to the influence (Brück, 2021). The artwork should reflect the world of human characters and passions, reflecting the viewer’s personally experienced experience so that they can achieve catharsis.
The idea of art as representation is akin to the avocado view, while the idea of art as transformative is more like the artichoke view. Avocado has a smooth, polished surface; it is aesthetically pleasing on the outside and does not show what it has inside. Art as representation is aimed at achieving maximum smoothness and beauty (Wirth, 2022). The artichoke is not perfect, just as the idea of art as transformative transforms reality in such a way as to also show the shortcomings of the displayed phenomenon.
Relationship Between Art & Philosophy
It grows on the basis of ostensive forms of culture, and philosophy grows on the branches of form principles. Therefore, art is always characterized by reliance on sensory perception, and philosophy is based on speculation, which makes the relationship between art and philosophy complementary and mutually influencing. As I have previously stated, I agree with both Plato and Descartes that philosophy is sometimes the best means of achieving certainty about reality and existence, but I do not think that art is the ultimate expression of truth (Mitchell, 2019). The postmodern view of art is a rejection of the natural standpoint adopted by empiricism and nationalism and rejected by phenomenology. This is due to the fact that, according to postmodernists, art has the character of transforming reality rather than reflecting it.
References
Brück, M. (2021). Aesthetic principles, the arts, and the interpretation of culture. Psych Journal, 10(2), 200–209.
Mitchell, H. B. (2019). Roots of Wisdom: A tapestry of philosophical traditions (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Wirth, J. M. (2022). Being True to the Earth: Schelling and Nietzsche. Environment, Space, Place, 14(1), 6–22.