Aesthetics and philosophy of art according to the birth context of aesthetics
Introduction
Julio del Valle: “The dignity of the imagination. Alexander Baumgarten and the Birth Context of Aesthetics ”, Areté. Philosophy Magazine, Vol. XXIII, 2011, pp. 321-2. ‘Let’s imagine a sunset, something we have all seen. The logical truth will show us geographical and meteorological generality;He will explain, wherever we are, the conditions that allow the vision of a sunset. No matter where we are or matter who is the person at that time with an eye on the horizon.
The generality of logical trial thus shows its scope, but also its limits. Its scope and strength is well known to us (it allows us to understand the fact, the phenomenon, within a causal chain);Its limitation is, however, in the cold anonymity. It doesn’t tell me anything about the moment or its meaning for me. It does not have to do it, because it is a general explanation. In the aesthetic experience the orange, pink and violet of the tones of the Lima sunset, which is one that is significant to me, is a personal and non -transferable experience, one that brings us sentimental, sensitively and rationally to that piece of land where we develop ourlife and our sensitivity. The understanding of the world allows me to locate the phenomenon, but those brushstrokes of soft colors identify me completely with something for my significant. They make my belonging.
Let’s continue with the second example. Let’s leave nature and focus art. Let’s bring to memory (a very important intellectual quality for aesthetics) a picture that we probably have seen, the Guernica de Picasso. The logical, abstract generality may speak on war and explain the horrors of the same. You can even place examples and find cases. All this is valid, relevant, interesting, necessary to understand. After reading a cultural, sociological or historical explanation of war, we can most likely understand some basic springs to understand a conflict or, even, optimistically, the matrix of any conflict. Picasso’s painting is faced differently. In Peru (and in most countries of the world) we have all seen something similar, we all have close experience of an armed conflict, and we have lucid explanatory texts. Let’s concentrate now, not forgetting the explanation or the experience that we all have accumulated, how in the painting that has been chosen as a reference, the painter has limited his palette only to black, gray and white tones;Let’s look at the grotesque simplicity of forms, we perceive movement, anguish and despair in bodies. Picasso’s painting confronts us directly with old memories, he attacks and frightens us;It makes us feel brutality and crying again;It summons our mercy and directly appeals to our sensitivity to summon those old ghosts again in consciousness;It summons us to do everything possible so that something like this does not happen to us again. The understanding of the phenomenon, aesthetically, is different from that of logic, but it is also clear. A different clarity. I see with him, clearly, what the horror of war means.’
Developing
The text to comment clearly presents two cases of aesthetic experiences. The first occurs in nature, the subject transmits us as that sunset (something that we have all observed) is a personal and non -transferable experience, since it brings it sentimentally and rationally to that piece of earth where life develops. He does not care about the understanding of the world, since that only causes the phenomenon to place, however it is those colored brushstrokes that make everything meaning for him. The second case is something different, since it happens with a work of art, to be more concrete the Guernica de Picasso. It is a painting that explains Guernica’s bombing during the Spanish Civil War, in order to attract the public’s attention towards the Republican cause in the middle of the war, key data to understand the suffering and horrors of that time. We are shown as Picasso through the colors and shapes used in a reflection on destruction and pain, thus resorting to our sensitivity, there falls the concept of that experience.
The meaning of ‘experience’ covers the ways in which we interact with the world that surrounds us through sensations. The phenomenon of aesthetic experience arises when when contemplating these aesthetic objects (paintings, poetry recital, sunset, theatrical work …) a feeling of pleasure is born in us and we reach some kind of knowledge. This pleasure does not arise from the utility of the object, but that its form produces delight when we get into this and should be enjoyed by anyone, on the other hand, John Dewey argues that experiences of this type are the most complete, rich and richhigh possible. Another philosopher to highlight would be M. Heidegger, dictates a circular dialogue between the subject and the object (the subject speaks with the work and vice versa) so that there is empathy and aesthetic experience (Molina Barea, 2019)
We must highlight the importance of the personal and subjective point of view (show our own opinion) to make possible the aesthetic experience, this phenomenon depends on the personality, taste, sensitivity and knowledge of the subject. We must not stay in the superficial and objective of the object, since we would not get to deepen its essence. This serves not to fall in general, such as "the disasters of war" or that "geographical and meteorological generality". Hegel argues the inability of sensitive consciousness against works of art, since the essence of art goes beyond sensitive perception. As Danto said, in art aesthetic experiences are unpredictable, it is logical that it does not affect a group of people or even the same person on different occasions, so we return again and again to the work of art, andWe hope they help us see something new in ourselves. From my point of view, to have an aesthetic response you have to put aside topical (beliefs for example) to completely surrender to an object.
On the other hand, it is convenient to emphasize the duality (subjective-objective) of the beautiful. Immanuel Kant describes the aesthetic experience as a pleasure that is associated with circumstances in which one judges that something is beautiful. The Faculty Agreement is the key to the theoretical construction of the criticism of the trial, there is a full agreement between imagination and understanding. It defines that aesthetic judgments are both selfless, subjective and universal, seeks how to do universal the subjective, that this judgment is shared throughout the world. (Molina Barea, 2019)
Both nature and the work of art can produce aesthetic experiences, only if we get to deepen them. In this case, the aesthetic experience of sunset would be covered by aesthetics. Aesthetics is that branch of philosophy that deals with analyzing and solving the problems that arise when contemplating an aesthetic object. Study the definition and phenomena related to beauty, ugliness, theory of taste, aesthetic judgment and aesthetic experience. Aesthetics is formulated by typically philosophical issues. (Molina Barea, 2019)
From another point of view, Guernica de Picasso is encompassed by art philosophy. It covers a more limited field than aesthetics, because it only deals with the concepts and problems that arise in relation to works of art, excluding, for example, the aesthetic experience of nature. Which means understanding the relationship that human activity and function of artistic work have.
In conclusion and from my point of view, I experienced an aesthetic experience at the time of visiting the Sistine Chapel, and it is an incredibly satisfactory sensation. If we only stay in sensitive perception (colors, shapes, composition …), we will have a very simple way of knowing, we would put aside the substance of art, thus truly losing its meaning. That some object or work may not enter the eye, but we really have to look for its background, since although it seems ugly it is important. Thanks to philosophy we understand that we have to look beyond appearance, that the work of art is just a flash of reality and that if we connect with it we can develop in ourselves feelings, sensations and above all knowledge. Art and philosophy are the foundations to find itself.
Bibliography
- Molina, Barea, Mª. C. (20181). Subject philosophy and art aesthetics. University of Cordoba. Class date: February.
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