FUNCTIONS

FUNCTIONS AND
AND
PHILOSOPHICAL
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES Al Jomairah Bandigan
Alyssa Mae Baongbaong
ON
ON ART
ART Cindy Jane Bolleros
FUNCTIONS AND PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVES ON ART

• Aristotle claimed at every particular substance in the

world has an end, or telos in Greek, which translates
into “purpose.”
• Every substance, defined as formed matter, moves
according to fixed a path towards its aim.
FUNCTIONS OF ART
• An inquiry on the function of art is an
inquiry on what art is for.
• Example: What is the Rizal monument
for?
• When it comes to function, different art forms
come with distinctive functions.
• Some art forms are more functional than others.
Architecture and Applied Arts
• The value of the art in
Painting and Literature
question lies in the practical
benefits one gains from it. • One can look at the value
• Obviously made for a of the product of art in and
specific purpose. for itself.
 DOES IT MEAN THAT
PAINTINGS AND
LITERARY WORKS CAN
NEVER HAVE
FUNCTION?
• Dr. Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibustirismo
• The novels accrued value and as a consequence,
function.
PERSONAL FUNCTIONS OF ART

• The personal functions of art are varied

and highly subjective.
• Functions depends on the artist who
created the art.
• An artist may create an art out of self-
expression, entertainment, or the
therapeutic purpose.
SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF ART
• Art is considered to have a social function
if and when it addresses a particular
collective interest as opposed to a personal
interest.
• Art may convey message of protest,
contestation, or whatever message the
artist intends his work to carry.
SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF ART
• Political art is a very common example of
an art with a social function.
• Art can also depict social conditions such
as photography ( pictures of poverty).
• Performance art like plays or satires can
also rouse emotions and rally toward a
particular end.
PHYSICAL FUNCTION OF ART
• The physical function of art can be found in
artworks that are crafted in order to serve
some physical purpose.
• Architecture, jewelry - making, interior
design all serves physical functions.
OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART
• Music was originally used for
dance and religion.
• The ancient world saw music as
an instrument to facilitate worship
and invocation to gods.
• Music was essential for
synchronicity of dancers.
 OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART
• Today, music has expanded its
functions and coverage.
• There is a lot of music that has no
connection to dance or religion.
• Example: Serenade - People
compose hymns to express
feelings and emotions.
 OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART
• Architecture may be the most
prominent functional art.
• Unlike other forms of art, building
takes so much time to erect and
destroy.
OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART
• One cannot dismiss taking into
consideration the function of a
building before construction.

• It is also in architecture where

one can find the intimate
connection of function and form.
 PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVES ON ART
ART AS AN IMMITATION

• In Plato's The Republic, paints a picture of

artists as immitators and art as mere
imitation.
• In his description of the ideal republic,
Plato advises against the inclusion of art as
a subject in the curriculum and the
banning of artists in the Republic.
ART AS AN IMMITATION

• In Plato's metaphysics or view of the reality,

the things in this world are only copies of the
original, the eternal, and the true entities that
can only be found in the World of Forms.
• For example,the chair that one sits on is not a
real chair. It is an an imperfect copy of the
perfect “chair” in the World of forms.
IDEAL
PERFECT
BALL

IMPERFECT
BALLS
ART AS AN IMMITATION

• Plato was convinced that artists merely

reinforce the belief in copies and
discourage men to reach for the real
entities in the World of Forms.
ART AS AN IMMITATION

• Plato was deeply suspicious of arts and

artists for two reasons:
1. They appeal to the emotion rather to the
rationla faculty of men.
2. They imitate rather than lead one to
reality
ART AS AN IMMITATION

• Poetry rouses emotions and feelings and

thus, clouds rationality of people.
• Art is just an imitation of imitation. a
painting is just an imitation of nature,
which is also just an imitation of reality in
the World of Forms.
ART AS AN IMMITATION

• Art then is to be banished, alongside the

practitioners, so that the attitudes and actions
of the members of the Republic will not be
corrupted by the influence of the arts.
• For Plato, art is dangerous because it provides
a petty replacement for the real entitles than
can only be attended through reason.
ART AS A REPRESENTATION
• Aristotle, agreed with Plato that
art is a form of imitation.
• However, Aristotle considered art
as an aid to philosophy in
revealing the truth.
• The kind imitation that art does is
not antithetical to the reaching of
fundamental truths in the world.
ART AS A REPRESENTATION
• Unlike Plato who thought that art is an limitation
of another imitation, Aristotle conceived of art
as representing possible versions of reality.
• For Aristotle, all kinds of art do not aim to
represent reality as it is, it endeavors to provide
a version of what might be or the myriad
possibilities of reality.
ART AS A REPRESENTATION
• In Aristotelian worldview, art serves two
particular purposes:
• Art allows for the experience o pleasure
(horrible experience can be made an object of
humor)
• Art also has an ability to be instructive and teach
its audiemce things about life (cognitive)
ART AS A DISINTERESTED JUDGMENT
• Immanuel Kant, in his Critique of
Judgment, considered the judgment of
beauty, the cornerstone of art, as
somethiing that can be universal despite
its subjectivity.
• Kant recognized that judgment of beauty is
subjective.
• However, even subjective judgments are
based on some universal criterion for the
HOW ARE THESE TWO STATEMENTS
DIFFERENT?
1. “ I like this painting.”

2. “This painting is beautiful.”

• The first is clearly a judgment of taste
(subjective), while the second is an aesthetic
judgment (objective).
• Making an aesthetic judgment requires us to be
disinterested. In other words, we should try to
go beyond our individual tastes and preferences
so that we can appreciate art from a universal
standpoint.
ART AS A COMMUNICATION OF
EMOTION
• According to Leo Tolstoy, art plays a
huge role in communication to its
audience's emotions that the artist
previously experienced.
• In the same that language
communicates information to other
people, art communicates emotions
ART AS A COMMUNICATION OF
EMOTION
• As a purveyor of man's innermost
feelings and thoughts, art is given a
unique opportunity to serve as a
mechanism for social unity.
• Art is central to man's existence
because it makes accesible feelings
and emotions of people from the
past and present.
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