1 Indira Gandhi National Open University MPYE – 011 School of Interdisciplinary and Trans-disciplinary Studies Philosophy of Art (Aesthetics) Block 1 INTRODUCTION UNIT 1 Philosophy of Art UNIT 2 Rasa – Definition, Nature and Scope UNIT 3 Aesthetics – Definition, Nature and Scope UNIT 4 Aesthetic Object 2 Expert Committee Dr. Jose Kuruvachira Prof. Gracious Thomas Salesian College & Director, School of IGNOU Study Centre Social Work Dimapur, Nagaland IGNOU Prof. Renu Bharadwaj School of Humanities Dr. Sathya Sundar IGNOU Sethy Dept of Humanities Prof. George IIT, Chennai. Panthanmackel, Senior Consultant, Dr. Joseph Martis IGNOU St. Joseph’s College Jeppu, Mangalore – 2 Dr. M. R. Nandan Govt. College for Dr. Jaswinder Kaur Women Dhillon Mandya - Mysore 147, Kabir park Opp. GND University Dr. Kuruvila Amristar – 143 002 Pandikattu Jnana-deepa Prof. Y.S. Gowramma Vidyapeeth Principal, Ramwadi, College of Fine Arts, Pune Manasagangotri Mysore – 570 001 Dr Babu Joseph CBCI Centre New Delhi Prof. Tasadduq Husain Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Dr. Bhuvaneswari Lavanya Flats Gangai Amman Koil St. Thiruvanmiyur Chennai – 600 041 Dr. Alok Nag Vishwa Jyoti Gurukul Varanasi 3 Block Preparation Unit 1 Prof. R.Gopalakrishnan Formerly Head, Dept of Philosophy University of Madras. Unit 2 Dr. Meera Chakravorty Vijayanagar Bangalore. Unit 3 Seetha Viyaya Kumar Jawaherlal Nehru University New Delhi Unit 4 G.K. Parimala Anjaneyanagar, Bangalore. Content Editor Dr. V. John Peter St. Joseph’s Philosophical College, Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu. Format Editor Prof. Gracious Thomas IGNOU, New Delhi. Programme Coordinator Prof. Gracious Thomas IGNOU, New Delhi. 4 BLOCK INTRODUCTION Aesthetics is the systematic study of understanding beauty and its manifestation in art and nature. A beautiful object or event brings forth immense joy. Philosophy is interested in analyzing the true characteristics of beauty in identification with several theories of art. For this analysis is seriously concerned with the value dimension of human experience. An object of aesthetic experience is concerned with two important human potentialities viz., cognitive and practical, art criticism and art experience. Beauty emerges from nature and art. In nature beauty is ‘given’ and in art it is made. The ideal of beauty pertains to its nature or character. The constitution of ideal beauty forms the subject matter of aesthetics which comes under the realm of philosophy. The relation of beauty to the meaning of life, its relation to other human values, the evaluation of aesthetic ideal in the context of other values etc., constitute the study of beauty through meta- aesthetics which is really an extensive study of aesthetics. The characteristic features of beauty arising out of art and nature are studied in aesthetics while the significant features of beauty arising out of nature and art are studied in meta-aesthetics. Unit 1 briefly explains the nuances of beauty and the understanding of beauty as studied in Philosophy of art. ‘Philosophy of art’ is the branch of philosophy known as ‘aesthetics.’ nder philosophy of values there are a few distinct subjects as axiology, aesthetics, ethics, and religious philosophy. These subjects come under applied philosophy. The unit introduces to the students the subject matter of philosophy of art. Unit 2 speaks of rasa as understood in Indian traditional aesthetics. Bharata in Natyasastra says that dramatic presentation’s main purpose is to give ‘Rasa,’ Aesthetics sensation in the aesthete which later leads to moral improvement. He further justifies that dramatic presentation gives pleasure to those who are unhappy, tired, bereaved and ascetic. Basically, aesthetics involves two issues: (1) definitions of art and (2) responses to art. Unit 3 shows the general connection between aesthetic recipient and aesthetic experience on the basis of their inseparable bonding, which begins with the very act of approaching art in general. introduce the concept ‘Aesthetics’ and explain certain concepts relating to it in terms of its nature. Effects are made to to have a basic understanding of the concept called Aesthetics; to comprehend the nature of Aesthetics; to identify the three approaches of Aesthetics; to be able to understand aesthetic recipient and aesthetic experience; to understand the scope of Aesthetics. Unit 4 is about the aesthetic object. The Aesthetics not only speaks about art and art judgment but also explains what art is. Aesthetics is neither epistemology nor ethics. To comprehend the essences of Aesthetics one has to understand: Sense of beauty, How to characterize beauty, The qualities of beauty, Relationship between mind and emotion, Idea, theory and technique of presentation. Oscar Wild rightly defines Aesthetics as, “Aesthetics is a search after the signs of the beautiful.” The objective of Aesthetics is the perfection of sensible cognition of “beauty”. ” In Indian context, ‘Beauty’ is the experience of unity of sensuous and aesthetic as well as religious spiritual experience; it is an experience of totality. 1 COURSE INTRODUCTION “A thing of beauty is joy for ever,” says Keats. A beautiful object or event brings forth immense joy. Philosophy is interested in analysing the true characteristics of beauty in identification with several theories of art. For this analysis is seriously concerned with the value dimension of human experience. The person who becomes wonder-struck and develops the sense of ‘awe’ on perceiving the work of art and the events of nature, his attention is arrested and promotes a kind of self-forgettable joy and gets absorbed in them. As beauty in nature is obtained from particular parts of nature and not universal, changeable, alterable, impermanent, non-constant the enjoyment or delight arising out of natural beauty is non-stable, man has resorted to enjoy beauty in art. Keats and Hegel consider beauty as truth in sensuous form. Schopenhauer treats music as an intuitive grasp of ultimate reality. Santayana refers to beauty as an eternal divine essence suffusing a material object. Tolstoy conceives beauty as a quality of perfecting a material object. Goethe indicates that an art object is a sensuous embodiment of a spiritual meaning. Block 1 introduces the discipline of aesthetics as the systematic study on the world of arts. Three broad approaches to aesthetics have been taken, each distinguished by the types of questions it treats as foremost (1) the study of aesthetic concepts, often specifically through the examination of uses of aesthetic language (ii) the study of states of mind – responses, attitudes, emotions - held to be involved in aesthetic experience (iii) the study of objects deemed aesthetically interesting, with a view to determining what about them makes them so. Blocks 2 and 3 enumerate various theories of aesthetics from both Indian and Western traditions. The historians of aesthetics have propounded different theories of aesthetics, which in fact, are really or are really representing the different standpoints from which they have seen or studied “Beauty” at different periods of time. The earliest theories have been grouped into (1) hedonistic (ii) rigoristic and (iii) moralistic or pedagogic, they represent a study of the problem of aesthetics from the point of the end of Art, of what the products of Art aim at. From the point of view of the spectator, there are other three theories (i) confused cognition, (ii) inference and (iii) mysticism. These show the nature of experience, that a work of art arouses in the spectator and the means of knowledge, which are employed by him in the acquisition of such experience. These theories have been propounded in the West on the basis of architecture, sculpture, painting, music, poetry and drama. These theories have been propounded in the West on the basis of architecture, sculpture, painting, music, poetry and drama. But the Indian aestheticians do not recognize sculpture and painting as independent fine arts, as does Hegel in his Philosophy of fine art. Hence the number of independent fine arts from Indian point of view is three and not five, as envisioned by Hegel. Block 4 deals with the Applied aesthetics which is a process, its practice, its an experience and many other things in between. It encompasses the shared historical and social resources an artists uses to sustain mutual engagement in action, the production and reproduction of specific ways of engaging with the world. Applied aesthetics are used by designers, artists, educators and many other people. In a general sense, applied aesthetics is an umbrella term for creative problem solving, learning in doing, art is practice, and responding to the needs or experiences’ of a situated community. 1 UNIT 1 PHILOSOPHY OF ART Contents 1.0 Objectives 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Formalism 1.3 Suchness 1.4 A Unified Experience 1.5 Feelings 1.6 Existential Possibilities 1.7 Relation Between Art and Epistemology 1.8 Enjoyment of Beauty in Art 1.9 Beauty as Meant by Different Thinkers 1.10 Let Us Sum Up 1.11 Further Readings and References 1.0 OBJECTIVES ‘Philosophy of art’ is studied and discussed under the branch of philosophy known as ‘aesthetics;’ one among the normative subjects besides logic and ethics. Under philosophy of values there are a few distinct subjects as axiology, aesthetics, ethics, and religious philosophy. These subjects come under applied philosophy. The unit introduces to the students the subject matter of philosophy of art. 1.1 INTRODUCTION Aesthetics is applied to the systematic study in a philosophical way of understanding beauty and its manifestation in art and nature. ‘A thing of beauty is joy for ever; its loveliness increases and perishes into nothingness’ (Keats). A beautiful object or event brings forth immense joy. Philosophy is interested in analyzing the true characteristics of beauty in identification with several theories of art. For this analysis is seriously concerned with the value dimension of human experience. The person who becomes wonder-struck and develops the sense of ‘awe’ on perceiving the work of art and the events of nature, his attention is arrested and promotes a kind of self-forgettable joy and gets absorbed in them.