The Philosphy of Art

Art is a complicated subject to deal with in the world of philosophy. It has no clear definition, and many people regard different things as art which are far from the norm. It is unclear how a work of art is created and distinguished as art. Using a broad definition of art, four famous philosophers came up with different theories concerning art. I believe that Marcuse's theory makes the most sense of them all.

Marcuse has a different way of viewing art. He argues that "great art is negative, destructive, irrational and, therefore, a valuable element in human life" (Wolff 374). This is different than the normal philosophies on art, but it makes sense if you think about it. Artists are always trying to come up with new original ideas. Marcuse would say that they are suggesting a second dimension to our one-dimensional society. They bring out their creativity and individuality in their works of art, even if it doesn't make much sense. Some art can be very abstract and confusing because of all the creativity and desire to detract from the norm that was put into it. An example of this would be the art exhibit of feces in a toilet. Some people would think that is just wrong and should not even be considered as art. Others may think it's a masterpiece because of the creativity needed to even think of doing such a thing and deeming it as art. Anyone could have thought of this idea, but the artist is the one who takes action and lets his work get noticed.

Another idea brought up by Marcuse is that of surplus repression. Repression occurs when desires get sent to the unconscious mind permanently. Some repression is necessary for society. It occurs naturally to us as means for survival. A good example of necessary repression is "denying ourselves part of the harvest even when we are hungry so that we have seed for the next planting" (Wolff 376). There is another kind of repression, though, called surplus repression. Surplus repression is not needed for society. Surplus repression is more like the repression needed to protect subjects from overthrowing their rulers. Marcuse states that technology tries to reduce necessary repression, but by doing this they are only raising the amount of surplus repression. A way to release both kinds of repression is needed in order to lower the rising amount of surplus repression. Marcuse says that this way of releasing repression is art. Art taps into repression in order to release both kinds at once. Therefore, art is necessary to reduce the amount of surplus repression and help us achieve genuine human happiness.

Plato has a somewhat similar viewpoint on the philosophy of art. He also believes that art is negative, disruptive, and anti-rational. Plato believes that art should be banned from good society, though. He says that there are three levels of reality. The top level is the actual reality, which is the idea of things such as the concept of a table. The second level is the appearances which would be the actual table. The third level is where art comes in. An example of this would be a painting of a table. Plato says that art distorts things because it is on the lowest level of reality. It doesn't matter if art distorts things, though, because it is supposed to be creative and original. Plato also believes that art causes emotions to overthrow reason. Emotions are the lower parts of the soul and should be governed by reason. Art gets in the way and changes this order, though, according to Plato.

Another viewpoint of the philosophy of art is given by Aristotle. "Aristotle says that good art is positive, constructive, and should play an important role in social life" (Wolff 374). He believes that art is helpful to society because it can reveal universal truths by dealing with the possible and not the actual. Creativity is put into art in order to make it different from the actual. Aristotle says that art is more like philosophy than history. It does not need to display reality. The idea of catharsis is brought up by Aristotle. Catharsis is the cleansing or purging of negative emotions. Aristotle says that art helps society by causing catharsis. It is done in a safe environment, and it helps viewers release emotions and be calmed without actually performing the negative actions. Aristotle does not realize that all art is not positive and constructive. Some art is intentionally negative, but it is still good for society.

Sources:
Wolff, Robert Paul. "The Mind and the Body." About Philosophy. New Jersey: Pearson, 2006. 358-380.