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Essay One |
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Philosophy 205:Aesthetics and the Arts |
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How would you define aesthetic experience?� In what ways does your own vies compare and contrast with the views of some of the philosophers we have studied? |
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| ����������� To answer this question I think that we must first understand what is meant by the term aesthetic, the following definition is taken from the Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary. |
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| ?a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste and with |
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| �the creation and appreciation of beauty? |
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| The word aesthetic is derived from the Greek word ?aesthesis? which meant perceiving through the senses, so an aesthetic experience can be said to be any experience in which one perceives something, but it is typically used to refer to the visual perception of things.� The theory of the aesthetic is one that has very many different meanings, some people consider it as just the viewing of beauty, but mainly people associate the term aesthetics with art.� To me an aesthetic experience is one that is similar to viewing a piece of artwork, but is does not have to be just an artwork.� For example it is often the case where people find natural landscapes aesthetically pleasing.� |
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| ����������� Because the category of the aesthetical is so wide it is very difficult to pin down what it is exactly to have an aesthetic experience.� In terms of viewing an artwork, it is a little easier to describe what an aesthetic experience is.� When we view a piece of art, we do not just look at the paint on the canvas, we study the painting, we often bring prior knowledge (whether it be of the artist or of the subject matter), and we experience the piece as a whole.� It is not just one aspect, it is the conglomeration of many things. |
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| ����������� Many philosophers, such as Kant, do not ascribe to the view that we bring our own meanings to a piece of art.� Indeed, Kant says that we view the piece with a sense of disinterestedness (which I will talk about in more depth later), this is where the viewer simply views the piece, and brings no prior knowledge.� I however am a firm believer that an aesthetic experience is more than just viewing something and saying ?Yes, that is a beautiful piece.?� To experience something in the fullest sense, we must associate ourselves with what we are experiencing, we must listen, smell and see everything.� For example, if we look at the aesthetic experience of viewing a stunning landscape in the Lake District.� The visuals are obviously the most important aspect of the experience, but is this all that makes it up?� If you have experienced something similar to this then you will know that the smells of the land (whether they be pleasant or not), the feeling of the wind washing over you and the sounds of all the animals and other goings on in the environment all add up to creating the aesthetic experience.� There are often other aspects that we bring to aesthetic experiences, such as prior knowledge of an artist, but they are too numerous to list. |
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| ����������� Many people often say that we can aesthetically experience something, without having to bring anything other than our eyes or ears.� The example of a child viewing a painting is often used, it is often asked if this child who views a painting is having an aesthetic experience.� I believe the answer is yes, and it is often said that if a child can have an experience, without appreciating the form and colours and any other knowledge the piece of art, then this means that an aesthetic experience does not include anything other than viewing the painting.� I, however disagree, although the child has had an aesthetic experience, I believe that he has not appreciated it fully.� I view it as being similar to that of being colour blind, you can still have the experience, but it is impeded by the lack of knowledge, or the confusions with the colours. |
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| ����������� Many philosophers where content with studying just the beautiful aspects of aesthetics, yet I believe that the ?ugly? or unpleasant aspects have a role that is just as important as that of the beautiful.� For example, if we consider the artwork of H.R. Geiger, his pieces are by no means beautiful, yet when we view them we are still having an aesthetic experience.� Just because the work instils in us a sense of discomfort, it does not take anything away from the experience, in my views it heightens the experience.� By making the work thought provoking, Geiger has made us look at the picture in more depth, and the feelings that are invoked are part of the piece.� Although the feelings are not universal it does not mean that they are not part of the piece.� This is often where difficulties arise in the study of aesthetics, for like ethics, it is very difficult and maybe impossible for laws to be universal. |
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����������� Another example is that of Chris Ofili?s, The Holy Virgin Mary 1996, this piece of art was the cause of much controversy.� It was a picture of Mary, but she was black, had a breast made of elephant dung and had pornographic pins attached to it.� This piece, unlike that of Geiger, is I consider a beautiful piece.� Yet, due to the mediums used and the actual picture of Mary the piece was almost banned from being shown in an exhibition.� This shows that the meanings attached to pieces of art have an amazing effect on the views that are formed.� Let us consider that the piece had a different title and the artist did not say it was a portrait of Mary, would the painting still have the respect and artistic values that it does now?� The answer is obviously no.� To me this is clear evidence that the meanings attached to a piece of art, are just as important in forming the aesthetic experience as the physical appearance.
����������� We now know that there are a wide variety of experiences that can be considered to be aesthetic, but are we any closer to understanding what it is to have had an aesthetic experience?� I believe that it is not possible to pin down exactly what is meant by aesthetic experience.� This is� because I believe that they are mainly subjective, although there may be general consensus that a particular piece of art may be good or beautiful, there will still be varying opinions on certain aspects of the piece.� Some people view art in different ways from others, some view it critically, others merely view it for what it is, a piece of art.� This can also be said of the natural environment, for some people viewing a snow capped mountain might invoke a response such as, ?WOW!?, whereas in others it might result in a response such as, ?Oh.?� The difference in peoples views make it almost impossible for there to be universal views on what is to be considered as a good aesthetic experience, but can the same be said of aesthetic experiences in general, without taking into account whether it is good or bad?� For in the above case, it is obvious that the ?WOW!?, person has had an experience of great pleasure, but the other person has still had an experience, albeit a rather dull one.� So, can anything be viewed as an aesthetic experience?� |
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| ����������� In my view an aesthetic experience is an experience where we use our senses to take in information that invokes a response.� This is a very general view, and it allows almost anything to be considered as an aesthetic experience, but I think that there is such a wide band of what can be considered aesthetic, that it is the only way to view it.� However, it must be the case that there are differing qualities of an aesthetic experience.� For example both an art critic and a child viewing an original Picasso have an experience, but the experience of the art critic is of a higher stature than that of the childs. |
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| ����������� Now that I have put across my views on the subject, I would like to consider the views of others.� Firstly, I would like to continue Immanuel Kant?s views on the aesthetic.� As I have already mentioned one of Kant?s views was that of disinterestedness.� |
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| http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary |
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