Paths from the Philosophy of Art to Everyday Aesthetics
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Ken Ueno's Jericho Mouth
Martin Jay Page 86-90 The Sound of Somaesthetics: Ken Ueno’s Jericho Mouth Martin Jay Abstract: A sound installation titled Jericho Mouth was mounted at the Beijing Inside-Out Museum in 2013 by the American avant-garde composer and performer Ken Ueno. Drawing on the work of Richard Shusterman and Roland Barthes, this essay presents it as powerful example of acoustic somaesthetics in which the material body—in particular the voice emanating from the throat and guts rather than the lungs and breath—resists cultural sublimation. Keywords: Ueno, Barthes, Shusterman, throat singing, pheno-song, geno-song, Jericho Mouth Aesthetics, it is often noted, emerged in the 18th century as a complement to an overly spiritual or rational philosophy, a way to take seriously the claims of the senses in our knowing the world. In the words of its founding father, Alexander Baumgarten, it was “the science of sensitive cognition.”1 In time, it evolved to mean more specifically the theory of art and lost its connection to science, but the combination of sensuality and something else – call it knowledge or truth or spirituality – remained. Aisthesis, it was understood, involves both sensation and perception, the former relating to pleasure and emotion, the latter to objects and their cognition.2 Insofar as sensation is mediated by the body and rooted in our existence in the material and animal world, it was understood to connect art to the “lower” or “baser” part of our nature. The countervailing perceptual impulse worked to elevate art above our instinctual needs and desires, linking it instead to something more sublime or spiritual, indeed often ethical as well. -
Interviewing Richard Shusterman: Part I
Action, Criticism & Theory for Music Education the refereed scholarly journal of the Thomas A. Regelski, Editor Wayne Bowman, Associate Editor Darryl A. Coan, Publishing Editor For contact information, please point your Web Browser to: ACT Journal: http://act.maydaygroup.org or MayDay Site: http://www.maydaygroup.org Electronic Article Väkevä, L. (2000). Interviewing Richard Shusterman: Part I. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education. Vol. 1, #1 (April 2002). © Lauri Väkevä, 2000 All rights reserved. The content of this article is the sole responsibility of the author. The ACT Journal and the MayDay Group are not liable for any legal actions which may arise involving the article's content, including but not limited to, copyright infringement. Action, Criticism & Theory for Music Education Electronic Article Page 2 of 10 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ LLVV::: There seems to be a general since the mid-1980's. From the 1950's to Interviewing Richard renaissance of pragmatism gaining hold the mid-1980's pragmatism was very Shusterman within many disciplines, including much eclipsed in the States by analytic Part I aesthetics and educational philosophy. philosophy imported from England and Why do you think pragmatism has the continent (e.g. Carnap). However, in Lauri Väkevä attained new popularity both sides of the areas like education, which were very [email protected] Atlantic? Is there a need for these central to Dewey’s interests but revitalized pragmatic standpoints, completely marginal to analytic especially in current theory of art and in philosophy, there remained throughout related fields? Are there competing this time a core of philosophers who This part of the interview was made via positions in the new stream of pragmatic email in May 2000. -
The Intermediate World: a Key Concept in Beautiful Thinking
Open Philosophy 2018; 1: 50–58 Dorthe Jørgensen* The Intermediate World: A Key Concept in Beautiful Thinking https://doi.org/10.1515/opphil-2018-0005 Received February 28, 2018; accepted April 25, 2018 Abstract: The term ‘the intermediate world’ is a key concept in Den skønne tænkning (Beautiful Thinking) and the metaphysics of experience presented by this book. The metaphysics of experience is about the experiences of transcendence and beautiful thinking that take place in the intermediate world. In the article “The Intermediate World,” this subject is introduced through a discussion of thoughts and concepts formulated by Paul Klee (Zwischenwelt), Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (beautiful thinking), Aristotle (phantasia), Immanuel Kant (expanded thinking), Mark C. Taylor (imagination), and Eugenio Trías (the limit). The text depicts the intermediate world as the level of experience at which the understanding does not yet distinguish between subject and object. The intermediate world is thus not a realm between human and world, nor is it something outside the world we know. The intermediate world is rather the present world in its most original state: the ‘place’ where we find the source of all experience and cognition, a source called ‘basic experience’ characterized by sensation, faith, and comprehension. In this realm, imagination is active and takes the form of an objective force rather than a subjective mental power. Imagination opens mind and world, thus allowing not-yet- actualized possibilities to become perceivable. Keywords: experience, metaphysics, Klee, aesthetics, imagination, Baumgarten, sensitivity, Trías, limit, thinking 1 Introduction The expression ‘beautiful thinking’ derives from §1 in Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten’s Aesthetica. -
Somaesthetics and the Revival of Aesthetics
Filozofski vestnik volume/letnik XXviii • number/Številka 2 • 2007 • 135–149 somaestHetiCs AnD tHe RevivAl oF AestHetiCs Richard shusterman i welcomed Aleš erjavec’s invitation to contribute an article for the interna- tional issue of Filozofski vestnik devoted to “the Revival of Aesthetics” and organized to coincide with the XVII international Congress for Aesthetics (in 2007). it provides me with an excellent occasion to reflect on the role of somaesthetics in the project of reviving aesthetics and promoting a more expansive scope and style of aesthetics, emphasizing international dialogue and transcultural metissage. it is a particularly opportune moment for such reflection, since 2007 marks the tenth anniversary of my first using this term in an english publication.1 Moreover, the international context of this essay is most appropriate since somaesthetics began in international circumstanc- es and was largely inspired through my transcultural explorations in Asian philosophical traditions. As i sit down to write this text on a gray Paris morning, november 2006, i recall that i first introduced the notion of somaesthetics in my German book Vor der Interpretation (1996), where it immediately caught the attention of a reviewer for the influential daily Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung (12.11.96) who however completely misunderstood (or perhaps intentionally misrepre- sented) its central ideas. With the anti-somatic and exclusively text-centered 1 that was in my Practicing Philosophy: Pragmatism and the Philosophical Life (new York: Routledge, 1997). For further elaboration of somaesthetics, see my Performing Live (ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000), ch. 7–8; “somaesthetics and The Second Sex”, Hypatia 18 (2003), pp. -
The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction and Mediated Reality
Ulla Karttunen The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction and Mediated Reality. The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction and Mediated Reality. Ethics and Aesthetics in the dream and cream world of every-extending publicity Ulla Karttunen * University of Eastern Finland Shift in publicities My focus is on the public, published, reproduced sides of reality – existing in the contemporary world is something more than immediate presence, it very often also means touching what is already mediated. Reality, as public and social, consists not only of persons, actions and social structures; it is also made up of images and words, reflections and reproductions. I shall call these reproduced parts of reality-mediated realities. * [email protected], [email protected] Art, Emotion and Value. 5th Mediterranean Congress of Aesthetics, 2011 479 Ulla Karttunen The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction and Mediated Reality. Art and science are traditional forms of reflecting and interpreting reality, but in today’s society there are also many forms of mediated reality that did not exist just a short while ago. Public realms of words and images have undergone enormous change, massive growth, and a kind of virtual urbanization. In spite of silent villages, consisting of prayer books, textual newspapers and religious imagery, we have today real publiCITIES: crowded centres and favelas consisting of advertisements, reality shows, magazines, lifestyle books, music videos, blogs and so on. This development has been made possible by various technical discoveries, inventions from photography and cinema to computers and digital reproduction. In the 19th century advertising, marketing, entertainment, celebrity culture and similar fields were either non-existent or minimal if we compare their coverage today.1 These areas are generally based on visual enjoyment, so aesthetics (with its visual orientation criticized in anti-ocularcentric2 philosophy) could have dealt with them. -
4 Shusterman.Pm7
Richard Shusterman 25 Self-Knowledge and Its Discontents Richard Shusterman Florida Atlantic University INTRODUCTION On Apollo’s ancient temple at Dephi three Greek maxims were inscribed whose importance was reaffirmed in Roman times, preserved in gilt letters. The most famous of these, “Know thyself,” forms the focus of this essay and constitutes one of philosophy’s most central ideals. If Heraclitus gave the injunction to self- knowledge its earliest surviving expression, recommending “to all men to know themselves and use moderation,” it was Socrates who established it at the core of philosophy. Acclaimed by the Delphic oracle as the wisest of all men, he claims his superior wisdom is only the self-knowledge of his ignorance, while others falsely believe themselves wise and knowledgeable. He even argues that the oracle declared him wisest so as to prompt his critical search for wiser men and thus show that the most reputed “human wisdom is worth little or nothing.”1 Rather than engaging in lofty speculations, Socrates confesses “I am still unable, as the Delphic inscription orders, to know myself; and it really seems to me ridiculous to look into other things before I have understood that.”2 Deploying the injunction of self-knowledge to remind the arrogant Alcibiades of his current limitations, Socrates affirms such knowledge as the necessary spur for cultivating oneself for the political leadership his ambitious young lover seeks. “Trust in me and in the Delphic inscription and ‘know thyself’,” Socrates tells him, for “every human being needs self-cultivation, but especially us.”3 But what, exactly, is the self to be known and cultivated? Some dialogical sleight of hand delivers the Platonic conclusion “that the soul is the man” (and “nothing other than his soul”) so “the command that we should know ourselves means that we should know our souls,” making them the object of our self- cultivation. -
Computational Media Aesthetics for Media
COMPUTATIONAL MEDIA AESTHETICS FOR MEDIA SYNTHESIS XIANG YANGYANG (B.Sci., Fudan Univ.) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY NUS GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR INTEGRATIVE SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2013 ii DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is my original work and it has been written by me in its entirety. I have duly acknowledged all the sources of information which have been used in the thesis. This thesis has also not been submitted for any degree in any university previously. XIANG YANGYANG January 2014 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Profes- sor Mohan Kankanhalli for his continuous support during my Ph.D study. His patience, enthusiasm, immense knowledge and guidance helped me throughout the research and writing of this thesis. I would like to thank my Thesis Advisory Committee members: Prof. Chua Tat-Seng, and Dr. Tan Ping for their insightful com- ments and questions. I also want to thank all the team members of the Multimedia Analysis and Synthesis Laboratory, without whom the thesis would not have been possible at all. Last but not the least, I would like to express my appreciation to my family. They have spiritually supported and encouraged me through the whole process. iv ABSTRACT Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy and is closely related to the nature of art. It is common to think of aesthetics as a systematic study of beauty, and one of its major concerns is the evaluation of beauty and ugliness. Applied media aesthetics deals with basic media elements, and aims to constitute formative evaluations as well as help create media products. -
Teaching Visual Art with the Brain in Mind
1 Teaching Visual Art with the Brain in Mind A thesis presented by Karen G. Pearson to the Graduate School of Education In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education In the field of Education College of Professional Studies Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts August 20, 2019 2 ABSTRACT Critical periods of perceptual development occur during the elementary and middle school years. Vision plays a major role in this development. The use of child development knowledge of Bruner, Skinner, Piaget and Inhelder coupled with the artistic thinking theories of Goldschmidt, Marshall, and Williams through and the lens of James J. Gibson and his ex-wife Eleanor J. framed the study. Sixteen 8-10-year-olds over eight one-hour weekly meetings focused on how they see and learn how to draw. The study demonstrated that the perception of the participants followed the development of the visual pathway as described in empirical neural studies. Salient features presented themselves first and then, over time, details such as space, texture, and finally depth can be learned over many years of development. The eye muscles need to build stamina through guided lessons that provide practice as well as a finished product. It was more important to focus on the variety of qualities of line, shape, and space and strategy building through solution finding and goal setting. Perceptual development indicators of how 8-10-year-old elementary students see and understand images will be heard from their voices. The results indicated that practice exercises helped participants build stamina that directly related to their ability to persist in drawing. -
Norms of Belief and Norms of Assertion in Aesthetics
Philosophers’ volume 15, no. 6 1. Introduction Imprint february 2015 1.1 Aesthetics and assertion It is a noteworthy feature of our discourse concerning aesthetic value that certain kinds of assertion — unproblematic in most other domains — are typically ruled as impermissible. I can legitimately assert that post-boxes in Canada are red, Justin Bieber’s sophomore Norms of Belief and album lasts a little over thirty-eight minutes, and arsenic is extremely poisonous, even though I have never seen, heard, or imbibed the relevant items. In contrast, utterances such as ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is an extremely moving film’ (Lackey 2011: 257) and ‘It’s such Norms of Assertion in a wonderful novel; insightful and moving, with the most beautiful and bewitching language’ (Robson 2012: 4), appear extremely problematic in the mouth of someone who has not experienced the works in question for themselves.1 Aesthetics This contrast may initially seem rather prosaic, but it has recently been employed in arguments intended to motivate a number of significant philosophical claims. These arguments typically begin by taking such examples as license for the general claim that it is illegitimate to make assertions concerning the aesthetic properties of an object in the absence of first-hand experience of the object itself. Thus Mary Mothersill claims that ‘the judgment of taste (speech act) presupposes, through the avowal that it implicates, first-person knowledge of the object judged’ (1994: 160). Simon Blackburn states Jon Robson that if ‘I have no experience of X, I cannot without misrepresentation University of Nottingham answer the question ‘Is X beautiful/boring/fascinating…?’’ (1998: 110), and others — such as Jennifer Lackey (2011: 157–8) and Keren Gorodeisky (2010: 53) — make comments in a similar vein. -
A Teacher's Introduction to Composition in the Rhetorical Tradition
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 373 330 CS 214 452 AUTHOR Winterowd, W. Ross; Blum, Jack TITLE A Teacher's Introduction to Composition in the Rhetorical Tradition. NCTE Teacher's Introduction Series. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, Ill. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-5024-1; ISSN-1059-0331 PUB DATE 94 NOTE _42p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 50241-3050: $8.95 members, $11.95 nonmembers). PUB TYPE Books (010) Historical Materials (060) Guides Non- Classroom Use (055) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Educational History; English Curriculum; English Instruction; Higher Education; *Intellectual History; *Rhetorical Theory; *Writing (Composition); *Writing Instruction IDENTIFIERS *Classical Rhetoric; *Composition Theory; Historical Background; Poststructuralism ABSTRACT Based on the idea that an individual cannot understand literature, philosophy, or rhetoric without knowing the field's historical content, this book traces the evolution of the growing and ever-changing field of composition/rhetoric through numerous schools of thought, including Platonism, Aristoteleanism, New Criticism, and the current poststructuralism. After a discussion of the main themes of classical rhetoric, the book offers a historical analysis of the rhetoric of 18th and 19th centuries, focusing briefly on the works of George Campbell, Hugh Blair, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The book divides the current field of composition/rhetoric into five categories: current-traditio:. 1 rhetoric, romantic rhetoric, neo-classical rhetoric, new rhetoric, and new stylistics. An entire chapter in the book is devoted to the work of I. A. Richards and Kenneth Burke. The final chapter of the book offers an analysis of poststructuralism influence on composition--discussing New Criticism, deconstruction, feminist criticism, and postmodernism. -
Applied Aesthetics
1 UNIT 3 APPLIED AESTHETICS: WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Contents 3.0 Objectives 3.1 Introduction 3.2 World of Music/ Applied Aesthetics of Musicology 3.3 Applied Aesthetics in Mathematical Domains 3.4 Application of Aesthetics in Information Field 3.5 Applied Aesthetics related to Digital Art and a Host of varied fields 3.6 Application of Aesthetics in Other Fields 3.7 Let Us Sum Up 3.8 Further Readings and References 3.0 OBJECTIVES “Applied Aesthetics is the application of the branch of philosophy of aesthetics to cultural constructs” Applied aesthetics seems to derive a new shape, an enriched stature, thus aesthetics is made ever moving, ever growing by additions of some sort at each step. Invigorated in strength, enriched numerously with precious additions and constructs, it compares well with life itself, which according to the Veda is ‘gigantic’, Prano Virat, it is ever growing, ever flowing like a river or stream, without a break to look back, or to beat a retreat, it is not like a stagnated pool of water, which gives foul smell; it is refreshed each moment, it always gives fresh look of novelty, poise, patience. By applying aesthetics to various aspects of life and nature, it aims is to make it more suited to enlarge it into gigantic Bunyan tree of knowledge and also to make it an interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional branch of study. As above mentioned, it is a philosophy though some have called it ‘a science of beauty’. The question is, should it be treated as ‘philosophy’ or ‘science’ or both. -
Journal of Scottish Thought
Journal of Scottish Thought Volume 10 Published by the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies University of Aberdeen 2018 ISSN 1755 9928 Editor: Endre Szécsényi © The Contributors This volume of The Journal of Scottish Thought developed from a conference hosted by the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies, University of Aberdeen. The Journal of Scottish Thought is a peer reviewed, open access journal published annually by the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen. Correspondence should be addressed to The Journal of Scottish Thought, 19 College Bounds, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3UG. Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY. CONTENTS Editorial Note v Ronald W. Hepburn’s Agnosticism Mary Warnock 1 Is the Sacred Older than the Gods? Guy Bennett-Hunter 13 Religious Experience, Imagination and Interpretation: A Case Study Peter Cheyne 26 The Voice of Cordelian Ethics: Imagination and the Loss of Religion Michael McGhee 52 Aesthetic and Moral James Kirwan 69 Aesthetic Experience, Metaphysics and Subjectivity: Ronald W. Hepburn and ‘Nature-Mysticism’ David E. Cooper 90 Constructing the Aesthetics of Nature Cairns Craig 102 Ronald W. Hepburn on Wonder and the Education of Emotions and Subjectivity James MacAllister 123 Wonder and the Everyday: Hepburnian Considerations and Beyond Arto Haapala 139 Notes on Contributors 153 Editorial Note On 18–19 May 2018, a symposium was held in the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the death of Ronald W. Hepburn. The speakers of this event – Arnar Árnason, Guy Bennett-Hunter, Pauline von Bonsdorff, Isis Brook, David E.