Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person

Module 01: Doing Philosophy

Lesson 04: Expressing Holistic Thoughts
Activity 01: Writing a Philosophical Essay

(Issue)

Should beauty be experienced or appreciated?

(PARAMETER)

LEADER : SALAGUINTO, SOPHITIA CELLO VICTORIA Y.

ASSISTANT LEADER : SANTIAGO, FRANCESCA JEAN M.
MEMBERS :
1. ANTINERO, JABEZ R.
2. CALDERON, EZEKIEL JOHN N.
3. AME, FRANCHESCA ALTHEA J.
4. DIMAANGAY, LAURA FAYE H.
5. PINEDA, MOIRA ALEXANDRA T.
6. TANDOC, AMIRE PATRIZ P.

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 Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Module 01: Doing Philosophy
Lesson 04: Expressing Holistic Thoughts
Activity 01: Writing a Philosophical Essay
Instruction: Write a philosophical essay on a given issue or argument based on the set
criteria. Use the TEMPLATE provided below.

ISSUE:
Should beauty be appreciated or experienced?

I. PARAMETER :
1. Beauty requires thought.
2. Beauty is found/seen in visual arts
3. Beauty is found/seen in tangible/physical/concrete objects or things.
B. DEFINITION OF TERMS :
1. Beauty
- the quality or qualities in a person or a thing that gives pleasure to the
senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.
2. Appreciate
- to value or admire highly
- to grasp the nature, worth, quality, or significance of
3. Experience
- the fact of having been affected or gained knowledge through direct
observation or participation
- the conscious events that make up an individual life
4. Art
- also called (to distinguish it from other art forms) visual art, a visual object
or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or
imagination. The term art includes different media such as painting,
sculpture, printmaking, drawing, decorative arts, photography and
installation.
- the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the
production of aesthetic objects
5. Inanimate
- does not have a life or a spirit
- lacking consciousness or power of emotion
6. Aesthetics
- is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and appreciation of
art, beauty and good taste.
7. Dennis Dutton’s Seven Universal Signatures in Human Aesthetics
- Expertise – technical artistic skills are cultivated, recognized, and admired
- Non-utilitarian pleasure – art is viewed as a source of pleasure itself
- Style – Artistic objects and performances satisfy rules of composition that
place them in a recognizable style.
- Criticism – People make a point of judging, appreciating, and interpreting
works of art.
- Special focus – Art is set aside from ordinary life and made a dramatic
focus of experience.
- Imagination – Artists and their audiences entertain hypothetical worlds in
the theater of the imagination.

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 Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Module 01: Doing Philosophy
Lesson 04: Expressing Holistic Thoughts
Activity 01: Writing a Philosophical Essay
- Imitation – works of art simulate experiences of the world.
8. Critique of Judgement
- a book by German philosopher Immanuel Kant which the objectivity of
taste, aesthetic disinterestedness, the relation of art and nature, the role of
imagination, genius and originality, the limits of representation, and the
connection between morality and the aesthetic.
9. Tangible - capable of being felt especially by the sense of touch

II. ARGUMENTS :
A. Criticism. People make a point of judging, appreciating, and interpreting works
of art.
1. Explanation: Philosopher Dennis Dutton identified seven universal signatures in
human aesthetics. One of the signatures is criticism. It is explained here that
people tend to judge, appreciate and interpret art.

2. Evidence: When people go to a museum or an art show, they admire, judge,

or criticize the works they see. In critics’ cases, to analyze and interpret works
of art, they often look and into the technical aspects and expertise of the
craft.
B. One cannot experience something inanimate.
1. Explanation: A work of art does not have a life of its own. It does not breathe,
speak, and move.
2. Evidence: For example, one does not walk up to a painting or any visual art
and expect it to move, breathe, or speak.
C. Art is non-utilitarian (not for practical use)
1. Explanation: In Dennis Dutton’s seven universal signatures in human
aesthetics, it is explained that art is non-utilitarian. This means that art has no
practical purpose. People appreciate and enjoy art for its own sake.
2. Evidence: People don’t expect works of art to accomplish and do tasks for
them.
D. We take pleasure in something because we judge it beautiful, rather than
judging it beautiful because we find it pleasurable.
1. Explanation: German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s book, Critique of
Judgement, begins with a description of beauty. Kant argues that
‘judgements of taste’ must have four recognizable properties. One of the
properties is that the judgements must be disinterested or unbiased. This
means that the judgement towards the object comes first before having
feelings towards it.
2. Evidence: According to Kant, one says that a sunset is beautiful because
he/she judged it beautiful and appreciated it, therefore gaining pleasure
from judging the sunset beautiful.

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 Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Module 01: Doing Philosophy
Lesson 04: Expressing Holistic Thoughts
Activity 01: Writing a Philosophical Essay

III. CONCLUSION

With respect to all of the previously mentioned information supporting the

argument, one appreciates beauty. When one sees something beautiful in
accordance to that person’s tastes, the person appreciates it. The experience
comes after the appreciation made by the person. The person will feel some
kind of emotion or feeling towards the thing.

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 Introduction to the Philosophy of the Human Person
Module 01: Doing Philosophy
Lesson 04: Expressing Holistic Thoughts
Activity 01: Writing a Philosophical Essay

RUBRIC
I. Parameter: 10 points
A. Parameter is short and clear.
B. Definition of terms is clear and practical.
II. Arguments: 30 points
A. Organize: Thoughts of the arguments smoothly flow and they cohere.
B. Simple: Points of arguments are straightforward and simple.
C. Clear: Explanation of the arguments conveys what it intends to convey.
D. Conviction: Arguments are supported by strong evidence (examples, experts
opinion, principles, laws etc.)
III. Conclusion: 10 points
A. Conclusion is concise.
B. Conclusion coheres with the parameter and arguments.

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