philosophy of art

[lumar]

anyone studied it (formally or as a hobby) ? is it good ? what are the central issues?

[kev ferrara]

The central issue is, is it good if you study it?

[Rabid]

The central issue is, is it good if you study it?

I think you mean Art theory:
If so it's one of the only programs in art that you can get a PhD. in I believe...

[Jasonwclark]

I received my formal education in this stuff, and my advice would be to stay away from it altogether

Seriously though, if it interests you, I suppose I could kick around some thoughts and suggestions. If you can, try to study under thinkers who aren’t entirely hostile to the opposing tradition. Right now Philosophy/Aesthetics is pretty sharply divided into two camps: an Anglo-American tradition and a Continental one. It’s a major issue with the way philosophy is taught this country, but if you’re going to be taking classes in the subject, its good to know what you’re getting yourself into.

As a general rule, everyone respects what the Classical thinkers had to say (Plato, Aristotle etc.) and will give some deference to the big names like Descartes and Kant. But after that things tend to branch in opposite directions; one following the British and American Empiricists like Hume, Mill, Dewey, Russell etc. and the other following continental thinkers like Hegel, Kierkegaard Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Heidegger, the French Existentialists and their successors. Pursuing a formal education in any area of Philosophy, you’re basically asked to choose teams; because in many cases, professors (and occasionally entire departments) will ignore one tradition in favor of the other. My advice; ditch the formal education, and instead grab the library card or camp out at Borders. Its much cheaper, and you won't have to deal with all those irritating in class arguments and pissing contests. As for the central issues, I think its safe to say that the main (and perhaps only) issue in contemporary aesthetic theory, philosophy of art, whatever you want to call it is: “How to deal with modern art?”

Put another way, “How to understand the advent of photography, and its impact on the other visual/plastic arts?” Before the photograph came along things were fairly cut and dry. As a general rule philosophy is hostile to art (beginning with Plato and moving right down to the present day.) Aristotle sets the bar with “the imitation of nature” and most thinkers follow him. You might make some interesting detours with Montaigne and Pascal, or stop off to hang out with enlightenment thinkers like Gotthold Lessing, but for the most part 20th centrury art is what you're going to have to deal with. Philosophers eat this shit up, because many of the most popular 20th century visual art's movements, aimed to turn Art into Philosophy (Duchamp, the Dadaist, and their cohorts.) Before these cats came along, you might find yourself asking questions like: "What is Beauty?" or "How do the arts follow nature?" or something with a similarly classical ring. Nowadays, however, the question is pretty uniformly...

"Is this art?" or
"Why is this art?" or
"Who gets to say that this is art?"

And many other intractable questions...

You will almost certainly be forced to read Danto and George Dickie (which may or may not "thrill" you.) If you're lucky, you might find a professor who's read people like Heidegger, Derrida, Irigaray, Agamben etc. and is capable of teaching them (which is not always the same thing.) You really do need someone there to help you along though, because these guys are almost innaccessible otherwise, and can be very frustrating to read off the cuff.

If you want to start with someone who is still very relevant, and enjoyable to read, I'd begin with Nietzsche. The Birth of Tragedy is generally the first book they throw at you, but I would recommend that you pick up Human All too Human, and The Will to Power first, and hit up all the sections with the word Art in the heading. You might also try to hunt down a copy of The Continental Aesthetics Reader. One of my old mentors helped to edit it, and it has some interesting ideas to mull over.

Hope that helped a little.

[Seedling]

Nowadays, however, the question is pretty uniformly...

"Is this art?" or
"Why is this art?" or
"Who gets to say that this is art?"

If I had to sit through even a single class of this, I would slit my wrists.

[kev ferrara]

The seven central question, in sequence, you will find yourself asking in Art Theory class..

1. Is it Art?
2. Why is it Art?
3. Who Gets to say "this is Art" and "this isn't Art"?
4. Why aren't I learning how to make Art in this class?
5. How much of Art is disguised Philosophy and Politics?
6. Why are we only talking about Politics in Art Class?
7. Can I get my money back?

[Jasonwclark]

4. Why aren't I learning how to make Art in this class?
5. How much of Art is disguised Philosophy and Politics?
6. Why are we only talking about Politics in Art Class?
7. Can I get my money back?

Dead on-
You cracked me up there kev.

In all fairness though I guess I should say...
Its not that it’s all trash; but the Socratic elenchus really doesn't lend itself well to art appreciation and analysis. Sure, occasionally you'll uncover a little gem of wisdom here and there, but the discipline at large is a total minefield. That’s ok though; the best insights usually arrive when you're reading alone anyway, so you don't really need the academy... just a lot of curiosity and patience.

It’s hard to say where to start though, as far as a possible reading list might go. Many of these thinkers like to make allusions to their forebears, and in addition to all the swarming "philosophers" from bygone eras, there are also of poets/authors that are frequently referenced. 18th and 19th favorites; Geothe, Rilke, Baudelaire, Huysmans, Dos Pasos, Henry Miller and the like, who in turn like to reference older works and writers. And then you have the Artists themselves to contend with, from Da Vinci to Van Gough: and all the other men and women of letters who wrote on the subject in decades past. Almost everyone weighs in at one point or another. And as with anything, once everyone starts weighing in, a torrent of bullshit tends to follow after.

But best of luck dude.
And remember to be careful of the smooth talkers, they’ll mind rape you if you aren’t careful.

[Darren_1989]

I'm in a philosophy of art course right now with a great professor and I think that its a lot of fun. I wouldn't want to study it for more than one or two classes, but an introduction is interesting. We started with Beauty and what it is, and went through Hume and Kant. Now we've kind of moved onto the purpose of art, and have read Hegel and Nietszche. I can't remember where we are going next, but its been fun.

If you do take a class, just make sure you don't automatically agree with whatever philosopher you're studying at the time, a lot of the kids in my class do that, and as soon as we switch gears they're on the side of the new philosopher.

This isn't nearly as good a picture of the subject as jason put forth, but I thought I would throw my 2 cents in anyway.

[lumar]

i wont be taking a class - i was just curious. thanks for the detailed replies . at most ill probably hit up the library when i have free time. What led me to ask the question was that as a science major there is not philosophy of science subjects available to me, and i find science philospohy, especially of the mind/brain, particularly interesting. so i figured maybe the same applies to art.

i think without going too far into it , it would be interesting to see what beauty and aesthetics generally entails, because there are sure to be historic trends right... i guess its not 'what is art' that i want to read about but 'how has art changed and why, and what do people like about art and why' that sort of thing. anyway i have zilcho time atm (exams) ill probably look into it more on the holidays

edit: hhaha kev sounds liek youve summed it up bro

[Seedling]

i guess its not 'what is art' that i want to read about but 'how has art changed and why, and what do people like about art and why' that sort of thing.

Aha! What you want, then , is an art history class.

[Elwell]

...it would be interesting to see what beauty and aesthetics generally entails, because there are sure to be historic trends right... i guess its not 'what is art' that i want to read about but 'how has art changed and why, and what do people like about art and why' that sort of thing.

A History of Beauty, by Umberto Eco.
I'm not specifically familiar with it, but Eco is always a good read.

[GriNGo]

added to the wishlist! thanks elwell