philosophy of art, the study of the nature of art, including concepts such as interpretation, representation and expression, and form. It is closely related to aesthetics, the philosophical study of beauty and taste.

Philosophy of art - Aesthetics, Expression, Knowledge: One of the things that has been alleged to be the purpose of art is its cognitive function: art as a means to the acquisition of truth. Art has even been called the avenue to the highest knowledge available to humans and to a kind of knowledge impossible of attainment by any other means.

Philosophy of art - Pragmatism, Aesthetics, Creativity: There are theories of art that differ from one another in what they allege to be the real purpose or function of art but are at one with each other in the belief that art is a means to some end, whether that end be the titillation of the senses or the conversion of humankind to belief in ...

Philosophy of art - Aesthetic, Moral, Expression: To say that a work of art is aesthetically good or has aesthetic value is one thing. To say that it is morally good or has a capacity to influence people so as to make them morally better is another.

Philosophy of art - Aesthetics, Expression, Perception: Against all the foregoing accounts of the function of art stands another, which belongs distinctively to the 20th century—the theory of art as form, or formalism.

Philosophy of art - Expression, Aesthetics, Creativity: The view that “art is imitation (representation)” has not only been challenged, it has been moribund in at least some of the arts since the 19th century. It was subsequently replaced by the theory that art is expression.

A work of art must have what Aristotle called “a beginning, a middle, and an end”; it must be unified, it must “hang together” as one entity. Everything, of course, has some degree of unity or other.

Art provides the most intense, concentrated, and sharply focused of the experiences available to human beings. Because of this, art can have an enormous influence on the tenor of a person’s life, more influential no doubt than any particular system of morality.

Philosophy of art - Mediums, Expression, Creativity: In the context of every work of art there are three items to consider: 1. The genesis of the work of art. 2. The artifact, or work of art, which is a publicly available object or thing made by the artist and viewed by the audience. 3. The effects of the work of art upon the audience.

Philosophy of art - Expression, Creativity, Aesthetics: Although talk about expression as a process is hedged with difficulties and in any case seems irrelevant to the philosophy of art (as opposed to the psychology of art), there is another way in which talk about expression may be both true and important to the philosophy of art.