LESSON 2:

ARTS AND
PHILOSOPHY
Ericson R. Ornales
ARTS AND PHILOSOPHY 2

THE ARTISTIC
PHILOSOPHERS
 Philosophy is a field of discipline
which has attempted to explain
almost all aspects of human
existence.
 It is the study of general and
fundamental questions about
existence, knowledge, values, reason,
mind, and language. Such questions
are often posed as problems to be
studied or resolved. The term was
probably coined by Pythagoras.
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 Art or Aesthetics, on the other hand,

is the study of beauty and taste,
concerned with the nature of art and
used as a basis for interpreting and
evaluating individual works of art.
 It is a branch of philosophy that
deals with the nature of beauty and
taste, as well as the philosophy of
art. It examines subjective and
sensory-emotional values, or
sometimes called judgments of
sentiment and taste.
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 Philosophy of art is 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.
 In short, one cannot do away with
philosophy when explaining an art
work. Also, one cannot produce an
artwork without considering the
importance of the philosophy behind
its production
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Art is a Friendly Deception

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THE ARTISTIC
PHILOSOPHERS
PLATO ( 428 – 347 BC) is a philosopher
of Ancient Greece who is known for his
Dialogues together with Socrates. He
loved and hated the arts at the same
time which makes his philosophical
views on art unexplainably complicated.
With the Republic being his work, Plato
was seen as a good literary stylist and
great story teller and considered the
arts as threatening.
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He believed that “ though arts can be

used to train citizens to have an ideal
society, using arts to accomplish this
should be strictly controlled”. He also
explained that the physical world is a
copy of a perfect, rational, eternal and
changeless original which he called
FORMS.

Plato’s Ideas of the Arts may be summed

up by the truths according to him that:
1. Art is imitation;
2. Art is dangerous
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ARISTOTLE (384 – 322 BC) was a

student of Plato who first distinguished
between “what is good and what is
beautiful''. For him, the universal
elements of beauty are manifested by
order, symmetry and definiteness.
As exemplified in his Poetics, he stated
that physical manifestation of beauty is
affected by SIZE. He considered art as
imitation or a representation of nature
and his emphasis of the art is on
POETRY which for him is more
philosophical than Philosophy itself.
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Poets imitated the following according

to Aristotle:

1. Things and events which have been or

still are;
2. Things which are said to be seen and
are probable and
3. Things which essentially are.
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IMMANUEL KANT (1724 – 1804) was a

German, Enlightenment philosopher who
wrote a treatise on Aesthetics:
Observations on the Feelings of the
Beautiful and the Sublime. His main
interest was not on art but on BEAUTY
that it is a matter of TASTE. Kant
explained that TASTE can be both
SUBJECTIVE and UNIVERSAL. For KANT,
beauty is a question of form and color is
NOT IMPORTANT.
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The Kinds of Aesthetic Responses

according to Kant are:

1. Beauty results in pleasure if there is

order, harmony and symmetry; and
2. Beauty leads to a response of awe
that overwhelms the viewers of the art.
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ARTISTS VS. ARTISANS

 An artist is a person engaged in an

activity related to creating art,
practicing the arts, or demonstrating
an art.
 An artisan (from French: artisan,
Italian: artigiano) is a skilled craft
worker who makes or creates things
by hand that may be functional or
strictly decorative.
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For example furniture, decorative arts,

sculptures, clothing, jewelry, food items,
household items and tools or even
mechanisms such as the handmade
clockwork movement of a watchmaker.

 Artisans practice a craft and may

through experience and aptitude reach
the expressive levels of an artist.
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THE ART FORMS

 The arts refers to the theory, human
application and physical expression of
creativity found in human cultures and
societies through skills and imagination in
order to produce objects, environments and
experiences. Major constituents of the arts
include visual arts (including architecture,
ceramics, drawing, filmmaking, painting,
photography and sculpting), literature
(including fiction, drama, poetry, and prose),
and performing arts (including dance, music
and theater), culinary arts (including
cooking, chocolate making and winemaking).
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1. Architecture.
an art form that reflects how we
present ourselves across the earth’s
landscape, and, like other expressive
mediums, it changes with styles,
technologies and cultural adaptations.
Architecture not only provides worldly
needs of shelter, workspace and storage
but also represents human ideals in
buildings like courthouses and
government buildings and
manifestations of the spirit in churches
and temples.
 Architecture is considered as the most
functional of all the art forms.
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Some examples of architectural works

are The Malacanang Palace, the
Philippines’ seat of government, The
Cultural Center of the Philippines, the
center of cultural activities of the
country and Burj Khalifa, the highest
skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates
to name a few.
Presentation title 18

THE MALACAŇANG PALACE

Presentation title 19

CULTURAL CENTER OF THE

PHILIPPINES
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BURJ KHALIFA
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2. Sculpture
Sculpture, an artistic form in which
hard or plastic materials are worked into
three-dimensional art objects. The
designs may be embodied in
freestanding objects, in reliefs on
surfaces, or in environments ranging
from tableaux to contexts that envelop
the spectator.
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An enormous variety of media may be

used, including clay, wax,
stone, metal, fabric, glass, wood,
plaster, rubber, and random “found”
objects. Materials may be carved,
modeled, molded, cast, wrought,
welded, sewn, assembled, or otherwise
shaped and combined.
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Some example of sculptures are the

following: The Jose Rizal Monument in
Rizal Park, the University of the
Philippines Oblation in all UP campuses
around the Philippines and the Black
Nazarene in the Minor Basilica of the
Black Nazarene in Quiapo district,
Manila, Philippines.
Presentation title 24

JOSE RIZAL MONUMENT

Presentation title 25

UP OBLATION
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BLACK NAZARENE
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3. Painting
Painting is the application of
pigments to a support surface that
establishes an image, design or
decoration. In art the term “painting”
describes both the act and the result.

 Painting media are extremely versatile

because they can be applied to many
different surfaces (called supports)
including paper, wood, canvas, plaster,
clay, lacquer and concrete.
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Some of the examples of this two-

dimensional art form are Juan Luna’s
Spolarium, Mona Lisa by Leonardo da
Vinci and The Fishermen by Ang Kiukok
among others.
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THE FISHERMEN
BY ANG KIUKOK
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SPOLARIUM
BY JUAN LUNA
Presentation title 31

MONA LISA
BY LEONARDO DA VINCI
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4. Dance
Dance is the movement of the body in
a rhythmic way, usually to music and
within a given space, for the purpose of
expressing an idea or emotion, releasing
energy, or simply taking delight in the
movement itself.

 Dance is a powerful impulse, but the

art of dance is that impulse channeled
by skillful performers into something
that becomes intensely expressive
and that may delight spectators who
feel no wish to dance themselves.
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These two concepts of the art of dance

—dance as a powerful impulse and
dance as a skillfully choreographed art
practiced largely by a professional few—
are the two most important connecting
ideas running through any consideration
of the subject.
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5. Music
Music is an art form, and cultural
activity, whose medium is sound.

Some of the examples which may be

associated with music are the Philippine
folk songs and the produced popular
music of Filipino singers like Sarah
Geronimo and Gary Valenciano to name
a few.
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6. Theater
Theatre or theater is a collaborative
form of performing art that uses live
performers, typically actors or
actresses, to present the experience of
a real or imagined event before a live
audience in a specific place, often a
stage.
The performers may communicate this
experience to the audience through
combinations of gesture, speech, song,
music, and dance.
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Some examples of theatrical

presentations are the following:
Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s
Dream and Romeo and Juliet, Victor
Hugo’s Les Miserables and the local
theatrical presentations of Noli Me
Tangere and chosen zarzuelas and moro-
moro performances.
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7. Literature
Literature, most generically, is any
body or collection of written work. More
restrictively, literature refers to writing
considered to be an art form or any
single writing deemed to have artistic or
intellectual value, and sometimes
deploys language in ways that differ
from ordinary usage.
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Literature is classified according to

whether it is fiction or nonfiction, and
whether it is poetry or prose. Fiction can
be further distinguished according to
major forms such as the novel, short
story, or drama; and such works are
often categorized according to historical
periods or their adherence to certain
aesthetic or genre.
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Literature may be in any form such as

poetry, novel, short story, essay, epic
and legends among others. Literature
may be oral or written and are also
sometimes meant to be performed
before an audience.

Some examples of this literary pieces

are The Woman Who Had Two Navels by
Nick Joaquin, Po-on by F. Sionil Jose,
Myths, Legends and Folktales by
Maximo D. Ramos and Stupid is Forever
by the late Senator Miriam Defensor
Santiago.
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The art forms may be classified as

visual arts and performing arts. Visual
arts are those which are felt by the
senses which includes sculpture,
painting and architecture.

Music, Dance and Theater are under the

performance arts category. Literature
may be visual or performance depending
upon the manner as to how it shall be
presented.
At present, there are other emerging art
forms that have evolved. These art
forms are digital arts which includes
photography and installation arts.
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APPRECIATING THE ARTS

1. Give a good physical description of the
artwork based on their knowledge of art
elements and materials;
2. Analyze the artwork in terms of what the
artist wants his work to represent and the
learner’s subjective reaction to the works
which includes their thoughts and feelings;
3. Perceive the art work in the context of its
history. This would enlighten the learners of
the artist’s intention in doing the work and
add to the understanding of themeaning the
work is supposed to convey;
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4. Give meaning to the artwork based on

its description, analysis and context;
and
5. Judge the artwork as to whether it is
good or bad based on the learner’s
perception of it and its aesthetic and
cultural value.
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Art is not meant to be looked at only for

what it is. It is meant to stimulate
thought because it allows viewers to
draw their own emotions and pull from
their personal experiences when
viewed. It is very powerful in this way
and it naturally develops critical and
innovative thinking skills.
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Art also teaches many important

qualities such as listening, observing
and responding to multiple perspectives.
Having an appreciation for art also helps
us to develop an appreciation for each
other and how we are all unique in our
own way.