The Value Of Art

The Value of Art is a module in the AQA AS Unit 2 Philosophy course.

Course Outline

Although we often dispute the relative merits of particular works of art, it is striking that most of us care a great deal about art in one form or another. The appreciation of art is a significant facet of our experience. But even if it is obvious that we do value art, it is less clear what constitutes that value. Art has always been associated with the advancement of moral, political and religious judgements and beliefs but contrariwise, the view that art should be regarded 'for art's sake' has a long tradition. Crudely, is art valuable because of what it does or what it is? Art appears inseparable from emotion, but whose emotions are we engaging with when we appreciate the emotional content of a work of art? Perhaps there will not be a comprehensive story for a field that encompasses literature, drama, painting, sculpture, music, dance, architecture and the multiplicity of hybrids and elaborations that fall under the heading 'art'.

Issues to be covered

The value of art
- We value art because it informs us
  - Good art should illuminate our experience, reveal "truths", articulate a "vision", be epiphanic, portray authentically or at least imitate or represent its subject convincingly or faithfully.
  - How is art supposed to stand for reality? Are all arts equally concerned with representing? What could we mean by "truth" in art? Even if art informs us, is that why we value it as art? Is art especially informative?
- We value art because of its expressive quality
  - Good art is moving or otherwise captures a mood or feeling. We describe and appraise it using an affective vocabulary. But how can psychological ascriptions normally attributed to persons apply to works of art? Are such descriptions merely metaphorical?
  - Is it really the artists' self-expression we value, or are our own responses occasioned by the art the focus of our appreciation?
- We value art because of its particular "artistic" quality
  - Good art is good because it affords a peculiar aesthetic enjoyment of "form": balance, structure, proportion, harmony, wholeness, "significant form".
  - Is the notion of "form" clear? As a matter of fact, are there recognisable formal universals displayed in art? Even if "form" matters is it the "essence" of art qua art? Does formalism neglect the place art has in the hurly-burly of human life?

AS Revision

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Resources

Aesthetic theory.doc

Aristotle on the Value of Art.doc

Art and the wider world.doc

Art should be epiphanic.doc

Collingwood on the Value of Art.doc

Discussion Points on Tolstoy.doc

Examples and Counter examples.doc

Expressive properties and the expression of the artist.doc

Expressive Properties.doc

Formalism and Artistic Value.doc

Formalism and hurly-burly.doc

Formalism questions.doc

Formalism.doc

How does art represent reality.doc

How to Write a Conclusion.doc

Is form the essence of art.doc

Picasso_Guernica.jpg

Plato on the Value of Art.doc

Problems with Art and Representation.doc

Problems with Formalism.doc

Problems with the Expression Theory.doc

Representation Theory.ppt

Representational Art and Value.doc

Scheme of Work for 'The Value of Art'.doc

The Claims of Formalism.doc

The Expression Theory (intro discusion).doc

The Expression Theory (OHT).doc

The Representational Theory (OHT).doc

The Representational Theory Question sheet.doc

The Value of Art (Intro lecture).ppt

The Value of Art (Opening Exercise).ppt

The Value of the Artist Self-Expression.doc

Tolstoy on the Value of Art.doc

What is Art video.doc