Modern and Post-modern Approaches to Truth and Art
This Project Assignment picks up the discussion of truth in the Week 3 Discussion by asking you to compare and contrast the modern and postmodern approaches to truth and art. In a 3-4 page paper, discuss the following:
Explain the idea that art represents reality by discussing Plato and/or Aristotle’s view of art. Discuss a work of art that you think illustrates this idea. For example, you might discuss a character/narrator/subject in a work of art (novel, poem, film, graphic novel, short story, television show, song, painting, etc.) who you think captures the idea that we have an essential, shared human nature and that art reflects this reality for us.
• Explain the idea that art is truth by discussing Schelling, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and/or Heidegger. Discuss a work of art that you think illustrates this idea. For example, you might discuss a character/narrator/subject in a work of art (novel, poem, film, graphic novel, short story, television show, song, painting, etc.) who you think captures the artichoke/post-modern idea.
You might also consider the following in developing your paper:
Is art mimesis/representation (as in Platonism and Aristotelian aesthetics) or is it a means of transforming the self and reality? Might it be aspirational, allowing us to achieve catharsis, as Aristotle suggests? Consider, too, how 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.
What is the relationship between art and philosophy? Do you agree with Plato and Descartes that philosophy is the best means of achieving certainty about reality and existence, or do you think that art is the ultimate expression of truth? How is the postmodern view of art a rejection of the natural standpoint we see adopted by empiricism and rationalism and rejected by phenomenology?
Remember to use supporting citations from the textbook and online lectures in correct APA citation.
Modern and Post-modern Approaches to Truth and Art
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Modern and Post-modern Approaches to Truth and Art
Art has a cognitive function and is a means of truth acquisition. For many years, art has been seen as a tool of the highest knowledge existing to humankind. It can arouse moral and ethical concerns and emotional thoughts that people encounter daily. Plato viewed an artist as an image imitator who tended to be eliminated from truth. This excerpt reflects the reality of art and truth.
Plato described art as imitating things in the real-world. Nevertheless, such things for Plato were glooms of their ultimate pictures. Thus, art tends to become further from truth than the neighboring world it copies. He claims that all arts, especially epic poetry, are the imitation of reality and the poet's imitator of reality (Amadi, 2022). On the other hand, Aristotle argued that art is based on understanding the true nature of things. An artist's skill is manifested in such recognition and provides aesthetic inclination. Furthermore, Aristotle stressed the creative principle of art. The work of art represents the idea that individuals have an integral, collective human nature.
Schelling, Schopenhauer, Heidegger, and Nietzsche propose their perspectives on art, demonstrating its revelatory and transforming quality above sheer representation. They are considered the "Art as Truth" school of thought. Schelling purported that reality can be demonstrated in its transcendental core through art. He believes that individuals can understand the fundamental unity of the universe and exceed the limits of reason via aesthetic experience. Additionally, Schopenhauer purports that art describes the “Platonic Form” (Hannan, 2009). He tends to be unsure whether art describes the nature of the not-quite-real or thing-in-itself (Hannan, 2009). It is assumed that he should have precisely purported that art reveals the basic forces of the environment, which are purely extraordinary. Besides, Nietzsche believed that art is a means of making sense of things via the dark side of human nature. It is a tool for encountering existence's horror and finding its meaning. Moreover, Heidegger noted that the aim of art is beauty but not truth, while truth is the honor of reasoning...