Activity No.

For Those with Internet Access

What to do?

1. Each group will make a power point presentation to be presented and submitted
next meeting which must have the following contents:
a. picture
b. title of the work
c. classification
d. description
2. Each must appoint or choose who will be the presenter to deliver in class their
output good for 15 to 20 minutes. Note: Do not come up with an oral reading of the
slides.
3. be reminded that the group 1 will judge the work of group 2, group 2 will judge the
work of group 3, and group 3 will judge the work of group1 with the help of the
rubrics given.

The Rubrics

Weighing Items Excellent (8- Very Good (5- Good (0-4pts) Total
10pts) 7pts)
1. Content All the contents Some contents A little of
mentioned are
are missing. contents are
present present.
2. Creativity Appropriate Appropriate Limited creativity
creative layout ofcreative layout of with less
the slide
the slide appealing to the
presentation that presentation that class.
does not need does need some
improvement at improvements
all which is very which is a little
appealing to the appealing to the
class. class.
3. Speaking Confidence, Confidence, Confidence,
Skills character, and
character, and a character, and
smooth sailing of little smooth stormy sailing of
the presentation sailing of the the presentation
without oral
presentation with with lots of oral
reading of the some oral reading of the
slides, and has reading of the slides, and has a
the ability to
slides, and has little ability to
capture the class‘some ability to capture the
attention. capture the class‘ attention.
class‘ attention.
The Group‘s Total Score Earned (Note: the total score is 30 points)
Chapter 2 – Functions and Philosophy of Art

Functions of Art

The basic question concerning art is: ―Why are there artists?‖ Or, better yet, we
can propose, ―Why bother doing something that one calls an art?‖ Be it painting,
sculpting, drawing, singing, dancing, writing, and so on, the over-all thread that binds
these acts together is the same: artists do something that they love doing. This
particular ―itch‖ is the driving force for creating a magnum opus, a bestseller, or a work
of genius. There are, of course, many reasons as to why people engage in art. The
most common of these is the utilitarian intention. Some people are motivated to do a
work of art because they find it useful, say, in earning a living, in expressing one‘s
emotions, in letting one‘s voice be heard on certain issues especially on morality, in
campaigning for a particular candidate or political platform, etc. The list is endless.
Basically, there are three functions of art: 1) personal (utilitarian, public display,
expression) 2) social (used for public display and celebration, used to affect the
collective behavior) and 3) physical (utilitarian). The term ―utilitarian‖ was first coined by
Jeremy Bentham2 who labored on the notion of happiness. Its simplest formulation is
the popular phrase ―the greatest happiness for the greatest number.‖ It was his student,
J.S. Mill, who refined it by abandoning the strict ―calculus of pleasures and pains as too
narrow.‖3Most people are motivated to do an artwork for personal reasons – e.g. source
of income, self-expression, escape boredom, etc. Others would do it because of long-
held traditions and beliefs – fiestas, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Still, there are those
who are engaged in art to maintain balance of mind and body: ―Mens sana in
corporesano‖ (A healthy mind in a healthy body).

Philosophy of Art

A usual tendency when somebody asks, ―What is philosophy?,‖ is to answer:

―Well, based on its etymology, philosophy is the love of wisdom.‖ This immediate reply,
of course, is based on two Greek words, philo (love) and sophia (wisdom), which had
come down to us by way of Pythagoras, who is credited to be the first person to have
used the term and, by extension, the firstone to have defined it. Traditionally, art
theories date back to the time of the ancient Greeks. For Plato, an artist‘s work is
nothing but a copy (a mimesis) of the original object that is to be found in the world of
ideas or forms. As every student of philosophy knows, he was a true-blue idealist who
considered the physical world as just a shadow of the ideal world. For him, whatever is
copied cannot match the prototype. In Book VII of The Republic, Plato intimates the
world of art in the following quote:
 ―And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of
vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and
various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking,
others silent.‖

The images mentioned above are mere reflections on the wall. Already, Plato
suggests that, just like the prisoners in the cave, most of us do not even see the actual
statues and figures except only their shadows. Furthermore, he seems to suggest that
the prisoners‘ conception of the products of art (i.e. those figures made of wood and
stone and other materials) are twice removed from reality. In this respect, Plato
considers the arts as inferior to science and philosophy. Over-all, however, Plato‘s
treatment of painting and poetry in The Republic aims at developing a philosophy of art.
Such tendency to believe in the ―mysterious‖, nevertheless, finds its nemesis in modern
technology as Michael Harris, quoting Harold Innis, suggests: ―We know that the
‗immortal inconclusiveness of Plato was no longer possible‘ once the technology of
writing wiped away a certain mystery.‖ Harris, of course, is referring to the advent of
computers and the internet which, in a way, has made everything quite open through
constant connectivity. Thus, the loss of mystery and, perhaps, even an interest in
reading books or printed material occurs.

His student, Aristotle, however disagrees and considers art as a representation

of reality. By representation here is meant an artist‘s unique way of capturing an image
of reality in his own terms. In his Poetics, goes to the extent, particularly in literature, to
consider its effect in the reader or spectator what he calls catharsis – literally, a
purgation of one‘s emotions. Thus, for Aristotle, the artist does not simply copy but
recreates reality in a manner that alleviates the audience. In the opening lines of his
famous book, The Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle says: ―Every art, art and every
inquiry, and similarly every action and choice, is thought to aim at some good; and for
this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.‖
Aristotle‘s notion of mimesis puts premium on poetry which can be summarized in the
following:

Imitation in poetry is achieved by means of rhythm, language,

and harmony (Poet.1447a13–16, 21–22). While other arts share some
or all these elements—painting imitates visually by the same means, while
dance imitates only through rhythm—poetry is a kind of vocalized music,
in which voice and discursive meaning are combined. Aristotle is interested
primarily in the kinds of poetry that imitate human actions, which fall into
the broad categories of comedy and tragedy.
 In saying this, Aristotle is at the same time suggesting that all art in general is an
imitation of human life. Thus, whether he is talking about comedy or tragedy, the
purpose is the same: to mimic how humans live their usual lives:

Comedy is an imitation of worse types of people and actions,

which reflect our lower natures. These imitations are not despicable or
painful, but simply ridiculous or distorted, and observing them gives
us pleasure (Poet.1449a31–38).

The conflict of ideas between the two pillars of Greek philosophy, Plato and
Aristotle, finds perfect interpretation in the famous painting by Raphael, The School of
Athens. In this particular work, Raphael demonstrates how the thoughts of these two
philosophers clash. As can be seen in the picture below, Plato (the one in the left)
points his finger to the top while his famous student Aristotle (the one in the right) points
his hand to the ground. Simply put, Plato the idealist says that reality is up there in the
world of ideas while Aristotle disagrees by saying that reality is down here in the world.

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant has his own take of the matter by
saying that art is something that is second nature to man. According to him, there is no
valid reason why people engage in art but the act itself. The expression ―art for art‘s
sake‖ thus becomes his famous battle cry. For Kant, art‘s purpose is to be
―purposeless‖. The artist in his view should not have any justification for his work. In this
sense, Kant proposes for freedom in one‘s art. In his work, Groundwork for the
Metaphysics of Morals, he says: ―All industries, crafts, and arts, have gained by the
division of labor, viz., one man does not do everything, but each confines himself to a
certain kind of work that is distinguished from all other kinds by the treatment it requires,
so that the work may be done with the highest perfection and with greater ease.‖
Clearly, Kant suggests that for one to be successful in any career, he or she must have
some focus. Multi-tasking or doing several things in one instance is out of his
vocabulary. Similarly in art, one finds fulfillment in his craft when he accomplishes it the
way he wanted it to be in the first place. Fame and recognition would only be secondary
to it.

There are basically three philosophical themes in art, namely: 1) Integrity, 2)

Proportion/Consonance, and 3) Radiance/Clarity. Integrity refers to faithfulness to one‘s
principles, proportion or consonance implies balance or consistency of the elements,
and radiance or clarity has something to do with the meaning or impact upon the
observer. When a person acts with integrity, his actions adhere to his values or
principles. An artist‘s work has integrity if it follows its own truth or values and is not
swayed by other people‘s motives. To borrow a statement from Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
―Art is a one-sided conversation with the unobserved.‖ Consequently, one may fail to
appreciate beauty in artist‘s work. But the artist feels secure in knowing that: ―Beauty is
enhanced by unashamed irregularities; magnificence by a façade of blunder.‖ Artists
use proportion for effect – that is, to emphasize a certain element in the work. For
instance, an artist could enlarge a person‘s head and minimize his body in a piece of
drawing to drive home a particular message. It is up to the observer, of course, to
interpret it. The third element, radiance or clarity, is what the term says it is. When a
viewer looks at an artwork, for instance, his attention is caught by the object
immediately as he lays his eyes on it. The attraction is instant due to the fact that the
artwork exudes radiance. As the line from a song suggests, ―Can‘t take my eyes off you!

To sum it all, art is really part and parcel of being human. As one writer notes:
―We make objects beautiful to understand ourselves. Art, then, must be a part of any
exploration of the good life.‖

Activity No. 2

For Both With or Without Internet Acess

What to do?

1. Select at least 3 – 5 members in a group.

2. Make an outline using bullets in terms of the entire chapter 2.
3. If there is the presence of sub-topics, use letters for them.
4. Use key terms only.
5. Each member of the group must have a paragraph that constitutes 5 sentences
only that deals with your own insights of what Chapter 2 is all about.
6. Be sure that the insights will be based on the surname in chronological order.
7. Use MS Word in answering.
8. Only a member of each group must be able to pass the answer sheet next
meeting through Google classroom or FB group chat. Thus the professor in-
charge will be the one to check your work. See the rubrics below.

The Rubrics

Weighing Items Excellent (8- Very Good (5- Good (0-4pts) Total
10pts) 7pts)
1. Content All the important Some contents A little of the
facts of the are missing. contents are
content are There are present. Not
present through some phrases following the
 the usage of used instead of instruction.
key terms. all key terms. Majority are not
Everything is in Not so order. in order.
order.
2. Creativity Appropriate Appropriate Limited
creative layout creative layout creativity with
of the slide of the slide less appealing
presentation presentation to the class.
that does not that does need
need some
improvement at improvements
all which is very which is a little
appealing to the appealing to
class. the class.
3. Speaking Confidence, Confidence, Confidence,
Skills character, and character, and character, and
smooth sailing a little smooth stormy sailing
of the sailing of the of the
presentation presentation presentation
without oral with some oral with lots of oral
reading of the reading of the reading of the
output, and has output, and has output, and has
the ability to some ability to a little ability to
capture the capture the capture the
class‘ attention. class‘ attention. class‘ attention.
The Group‘s Total Score Earned (Note: the total score is 30 points)

NOTE: FOR THOSE WHO ARE UNDER CATEGORY C, NO NEED TO DEAL WITH
NUMBER 3 OF THE RUBRICS. SO YOUR TOTAL SCORE FOR THIS ACTIVITY IS 20
POINTS.