Art and Beauty: On the Formation of Man and Development of Cultures

A Synthesis Paper Presented to The faculty of Arts and Letters University of Santo Tomas

In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements in Aesthetics

By: Cacho, Julian Paul S. 4PHL Submitted to: Dr. Fleur Altez October 15, 2010

Art and Beauty: On the Formation of Man and Development of Cultures

Several theories made by thinkers to define art so it can serve its purpose, and at the same time several disputes on what it really is have occurred. It is brought about by the constant paradigm shifts of the views and thinking of people, free thinkers and theorist continued on questioning man-imposed ideas, learning, and literature. Art being a man-made phenomenon, its definition and philosophical usefulness are subject to matters of controversy that are put up by the post-modern paradigm of contemporary philosophy. This is because arts subjective nature, and subjective interpretation and expression. However, the generalization of how to define art is almost impossible to come by, but by using several definitions, that are somewhat identical, this collective knowledge can be used to define what art is, as the same as how Philosophy gained its general definition. Nevertheless, contemporary definition of art is still composed of division of sorts. It has two main sorts, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, One distinctively modern, conventionalist, sort of definition focuses on art's institutional features, emphasizing the way art changes over time, modern works that appear to break radically with all traditional art, and the relational properties of artworks that depend on works' relations to art history, art genres, etc. The less conventionalist sort of contemporary definition makes use of a broader, more traditional concept of aesthetic properties that includes more

than art-relational ones, and focuses on art's pan-cultural and trans-historical characteristics. i

The dispute is always about the definition of art, so many thinkers like Kant, Collingwood, Tolstoy, Dewey, Hegel, Gadamer, Heidegger, and Danto have formulated their own paradigms on how to define art. But what main purpose of this paper is to look on another side of art. For the mean time let us look away on the side of how to judge and define what is an art. And now let us go to the responsibility of an art or its contribution to development of things especially on the formation of man and his society and the development of its culture. But comparatively little has been done in a purely scientific manner to determine the nature and functions of Art so as to fix the relations of the different arts to simple or natural beauty. Aristotle supplied a few valuable doctrines, which have been rendered still more precise by Lessing and others. Yet there seems even now no consensus of opinion as to the precise aims of art, how far it has simply to reproduce and constructively vary the beauties of nature, or how far to seek modes of pleasurable effect wider than those supplied by natural objects. A theory of arts at all comparable in scientific precision to existing theories of morals has yet to be constructed. The few attempts to establish a basis for art of a nonmetaphysical kind are characterized by great one-sidedness. Thus, for example, the theory that the function of art is to imitate nature has been broached again and again with scarcely any reference to music, merely, as it seems, out of an impatience for some one defining property. ii To determine the functions of art one must first take the context into consideration. Ideally, one can observe a work or a piece and realize immediately where it came from and when. The best method that one must approach includes the identifying of the artist, because he is a part of the contextual identification.

Using of the questions such as, questions that include the knowing of what is the artist thoughts at the time he was producing his art. The viewer is the other part of the contextual identification, asking questions that include the knowing of meaning of the art to viewer at that very moment. Now this is the context that can provide functions to art.

The significance of art and artistic development and sense of beauty have very important and great contributions to the development and formation of man and his societies and of human culture. The history of art is very rich that it contributed to the development of man on several aspects such as, psychological expression, and way of presenting truths, spiritual expression, and aesthetic judgment concerning how human beings develop their sense of taste. From viewing it historically, art has something to do with the improvement of human lifestyle. Man became more practical and creative on how he should live his life. Like, man ceased to be a nomad hunting wild beasts and practicing crude magic; he became a sedentary agriculturalist, learned how to cultivate crops and domesticate animals, and invented crafts like pottery, made astronomical calculations on which he based the first calendars. This is the Physical function of art. Works of art that are created to perform some service have physical functions.The Neolithic artifacts, particularly the ceremonial stone axheads and spears, reach an incomparably higher standard of workmanship, and in the place of magic we discern the first glimmerings of a spiritual religion. The New Stone

Age is the cradle of the first great civilizations of the Ancient World. Man achieved wider development of aesthetic sensibility, a further conquest of plastic awareness, a unification and classification of sensuous experience. The area of reality, of the formal comprehension of the external world, was immensely extended in those dark ages of the Orient. iii

Then there are the Personal functions of art. This involves the aesthetic side of art, the aesthetic judgment and taste that the viewer personally conjures. This is where the relative side of art comes in. As according to Kant, art is based on taste.iv These functions are many and differ from person to person. An artist may create out of need of self-expression, or gratification. He has this want to at least communicate or transmit an idea to the viewer. This is perhaps the trial of the artist to produce and aesthetic experience that is both for his personal gain and of the viewers. There are pieces that are created just to entertain other. And sometimes there are those that do not hold any meaning at all.

A powerful means of exhibiting truths about the phenomenon and episodes of human life is expressed through art because some of these aspects are only expressible through the influence and the message of art. Thus, it brings awareness to people. It also connects human understanding in a society by putting forth particular ideas that can be relatable through a universal

understanding. The awareness that art provides to humankind only leads to the betterment of a society if man takes actions grounded on his ideas and discoveries in art. These are the political art bring the another function which is the Social functions of art. The political art always renders social conditions that hold varying degrees of success in enacting social change and development. The art pieces that are the communities or societies can execute the social functions of uplifting the societys status. For me this is the most important function in the context of this paper because it directly pertains to the formation of man in his society and the development of its cultures.

Art holds that possibility of improving societies; it does simply just appear in front of human life it has this process of affect human cognition and practical lifestyle. Firstly, art is introduced and must reach the publics minds. From this appreciation is needed, the value of art needs to be appreciated for it serve its purpose. And then lastly, people must learn from its effects, apply what they have discovered in their appreciation of art. This is for them to apply it directly to their behavior, changing it for the improvement of the society that they belong to.

The availability or the preliminary action of making art accessible to the publics reach is very substantial for it to have any impact on a society, but it is not essential to categorize the piece as art. Because according to John Dewey, as he was an advocate for presenting art and making it accessible to common

people, his pragmatic approach has some value, for he means that art will not or cannot change society until there will a point that the people will come to experience art firsthand. This theory has one problem though, for art may have value besides the promotion of positive social changes. For instance, a wonderful piece of art may be banned or destroyed before it could reach the public but this piece may be still regarded as art. Because the potential impact it may bring was never comprehended, and it is a loss to the society.

The development of the society also considers the step that involves the reader, viewer, or listener. There must be this totally different appreciation for the human experience in the response to art. The positive aspects of life such as love, beauty, honor, and devotion can be depicted by art. But the negative human states such as fear, hatred, and injustice may be just as significant to art. And it will then subsequently follow that the viewer, as the ideas are expressed universally, will have a strong emotional response to art. Platos theory of forms v may hold similarities to this because the forms were ideas that were universally understood. The ideas becoming deep and require the viewer to apprehend the ideas universally. From looking at the painting, for instance, the Night Hawks by Edward Hopper, vi the concept of isolation that can be seen as it is expressed by the painting, can be comprehended by people of other cultures and other time periods. It is common that isolation is part of human lives and experience, and as it can be understood in art this idea is passed on as the people came to understand it by observing that painting.

The impact of art as to its potential so improve societies will only happen if the public was so moved by the art piece that they took the initiative to take action in developing their society. These changes are sometimes so apparent on a large scale, but often it happens on a local level. Despite that, we can see that Jose Rizals novels helped a strong and recognizable change. The novels showed the Filipino people of the abuses and brutality of the Spanish colonizers and it aided on the rise of the revolutions that were consequently successful after his death. It can be said that art really posses the capability and possibility to improve and develop a society, but results only appear and can be enjoyed when the public has the chance to experience and understand art. It can be that art also entails a relationship between the viewer and the society. Art has the ability to promote understanding or disclose

misunderstandings. These are components of human experience that connects the individual to the society. The fresh awareness that is attained through art benefits not only the society but also the individual. The individual obtains understanding, which is an improved one, about his or her role society and his understanding on the society as a whole. The benefit of the society depends in the individual, the society develop and profit for its betterment if the individual will take the new understanding to his heart and put it into action.

The improvement of society is only the main or the most significant contribution that art can provide to the formation of man and the development of cultures. Art has so many purpose and functions but before I discuss these functions I will first discuss what art is and how it is viewed by some of the famous philosophical thinkers, so we can justify the functions of art that holds significant contributions to the formation of man and development of cultures. Conclusion Art is so significant that it holds to many functions that can benefit different aspects of the lives human beings. From its physical functions to the social functions, each function performs to benefit the man. Through art man can also gradually change. Because art holds a plethora of potential that can be considered when observing it. An artist may place them, the piece may hold these innately, or the viewer may understand this through the aesthetic experience that may occur art was available to him. Art inspires people. It can tap any sleeping idea or attitude that resides inside you. It has this very significant contribution of developing a man on different aspects namely, reasoning, behavior, and lifestyle. They can improve on levels that are great. This is the significance of art in the lives of the formation of human thinking, society, and culture.

Adajian, Thomas. "The Definition of Art (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2010. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/art-definition/#InsDef>.
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"What Are the Nature and Functions of Art?." 1902 Encyclopedia (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th and 10th Editions). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/A/AES/aesthetics-05.html>.

"THE FUNCTIONS OF ART IN HUMAN EXPERIENCE ."Illustrator Serdar Hizli. Posters, Prints, Artworks, Covers . N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://serdarhizli-art.com/the_functions_of_art_in_h Ginsborg, Hannah . "Kant's Aesthetics and Teleology (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-aesthetics/>. "Plato And The Theory Of Forms." Philosophical Society.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://www.philosophicalsociety. "Edward Hopper: Nighthawks."Edward Hopper. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://www.edwardhopper.info/N
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