LECTURE NOTES ON AESTHETICS: THEORIES OF ART AND BEAUTY

By Dr. Allan C. Orate

Aesthetics is a branch of Philosophy that concerns with nature and essence of beauty. To
understand aesthetics, we must distinguish two things considering beauty: absolute and relative.
The beauty is absolute means that something is beautiful by virtue and beauty is relative means
that something is beautiful due to perception.

There are different aesthetic theories; Idealism, Functionalism, Hedonism, Conventionalism,

psychoanalytic, and formalism. Aesthetic Idealism. For Plato, beauty is truth and reality. Based
on his worldview, Plato theorized about essence of art. As this world is appearance of reality and
art is imitation of this world. For Aristotle, art is also imitation of things while Leonardo says
that "art is a window to nature". And Shakespeare noted that "art is putting mirror up to nature".

Aesthetic Functionalism. This theory is traced back from Socrates. The view of aesthetics, the
essence of beauty is what things are supposed to do that it's their function. In architecture,
functionalism is applied mostly in creating structures. "forms follow function" means that the
shape , size, space and other formal properties of a building is determined by its use. According
to Lucretius, art is a talent and skill for doing things.

Aesthetic Hedonism. Is an ethical view of human life, formulated by Aristipus and Epicicurus
both believes that anything is whatever is good is what brings pleasurable experience to the
individual person. Food, money and sex are good because they give self-interested pleasure.
Hedonism theory considering our common experience of nature of art. Art is beautiful because
of the sensuous delight it affords us. Aesthetic Conventionalism. In this theory, Thomas Hobbes
claimed that the moral values of good and bad depend on social agreement. Aesthetic
Conventionalism believes that facts and concept of beauty are inventions of people.

Aesthetic Psychoanalytic Theory. This theory intend to uncover artists' desires, urges,
inhibitions, depression, or wishes which lie hidden in an artwork. Lastly, the Aesthetic
Formalism. In this theory, the form of beautiful thing makes up the essence of its beauty.
Anything that's ugly is considered "deformed. There are two formal principles of beauty in this
theory the order and structure. "beauty is the harmony of proper proportion" means that the
parts of a thing must be properly coordinated in shapes, sizes, colors and other elements, so that
it may look beautiful.

PLATO

THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

Translation by Thomas Sheehan

A theory Plato put forward concerning human perception. The Allegory of the cave distinguish
between people who mistake sensory knowledge for the truth and people who really do see the
truth. For Plato, human life is like an ignorant and miserable life in a deep cave.

There are prisoners who has been in their since childhood, their legs and necks chained so they
cannot move there's a fire beneath them and they can only see shadows falling over the wall. Due
to their condition, whatever they seen on the wall is taken to be truth as they have no knowledge
what's real world outside the cave the images on the wall and the echo of various voices are the
ultimate truth for them.

Plato supposes than one of them should be set free and dragged up of the cave, once he go out he
suffers sharp pains. As he realized he has to be habituate himself to the new surroundings, he
search through the new surroundings and he begins to see the real truth Thus, he considers
himself fortunate for having this opportunity to see the truth, and pities his fellow prisoners who
are still living in that dark ignorant world. The cave is the world of senses that prevents our
journey to see the world of reality. In this world full of knowledge, the idea of good comes to the
end.

The freed prisoner would probably thinks that outside world is better than his life inside the cave
and this lead him to attempt to share his experience to the remaining prisoners and would want to
bring his fellow dwellers out of the cave and see the real world. The returned prisoner, whose
able to see the light may be get blind once he enters the cave. According to Plato, the prisoners
would infer from the returning man's blindness that the journey out of the cave had harmed him
and that they should not undertake a similar journey. Plato concludes that the prisoners, if they
were able, would therefore reach out and kill anyone who attempted to drag them out of the cave

In life, we may acquire concepts by our perceptual experience of physical objects. But we would
be mistaken if we thought that the concepts that we grasp were on the same level as the things
we perceive.

AESTHETIC DIMENSION

By: F Landa Jocano

Filipino concept of ganda has been pointed as the sum total of "katangian" associated with
anything, materail or non material that gives the highest pleasure to the senses. The idea of ganda
conjures up the image of desirability. This makes word "ganda" as the phenomenon that once
abstract and concrete.

Dillag, alindog,dikit are sme broad categories of ganda. This also can characterized by a
brightness or gloiw of an object like kinang or maningning. Filipino identify the level of their
perception in the word "ganda". First level is the cognitive level whre categoris is marikit, kakit-
akit, kahali-halina and the external feautures are primary. Second is expressive level, categories
that lies in this level is kanais-nais, kaibig-ibig, maalindog and primary is on affective state. And
lastly, evaluative level wherein the category is only maganda. It is a combination of physical and
abstract categories.

The concept about the word ganda are used to encompasses the aesthetic dimension of Filipino.
Ganda can be characterized in every term such as mood, physical appearance, attitude, structure
of objects, affection, and sensory. Filipino have been detailed and intimate on what is good, true,
and beautiful. Sometimes focused on description of human physical appearance. These attributes
also applied when appreciating artworks whether its good or bad in Filipino terms as magana and
pangit.

TOWARDS THE SCIENCE OF AESTHETIC

Arthur P. Shimamura
The nature of aesthetic experiences can be approached from many perspectives. Philosophers
and psychologists and even scientists have considered the variety of ways art influences our
sensory. They have conducted an analysis of aesthetic responses to art which considers the
artist's intention and the way artworks influence the beholder's sensations, knowledge, and
emotions.

There are four philosophical approaches that considered to generate an aesthetic experience.
First, the mimetic approach: seeingnature through a window show how successfully an
artwork as a window to the real world. In a mimetic approach to art, the beholder evaluates an
artwork on the basis of how closely it resembles a view through a window onto a real-world
scene. Second is the expressionist approach says that an art's primary goal is to express
emotion, feelings and moods. This approach occur Baumgarten's thesis says that art is meant
to evoke feelings of beauty. Francis Hutcheson describes art as an instilling sense of beauty
and gives pleasure to the beholder.

The other two approach is formalist approach and conceptual approach. In formalist approach:
an abstracting significance form shows how well an artwork induces a sense of significant
form. During 19th century, many of the artist rejected the traditional approach of creating a 3d
illusion on canvas and begun experimenting with the perceptual quality of their artwork.
Lastly, the conceptual approach with a sub title of "believing is seeing". In this approach
shows how well an artwork conveys intellectual or thought-provoking statements. In simple
way of saying that artworks was to convey a conceptual point. Art critics usually rely on this
approach because art during the past 50 years has focused on the representation of conceptual
statements. This approach requires knowledge about the symbolic referents displayed in an
artwork.

The I-SKE framework acts as a schema for experiencing art. The chart shown what the artist
tends to create and the artwork is experienced by the beholder who uses knowledge,
sensations and emotions to generate an aesthetic experience. Each of the said approaches,
highlights different aspects of the beholder experience in art sensory processes with mimetic
and formalist approaches, emotional processes with an expressionist approach, and semantic or
cognitive processes with a conceptual approach.