Classic Definitions of Art
Greetings Aesthetics People!
While aesthetics comprises more than art, it is still important to discuss art as it remains at least an exemplary context for thinking about aesthetics. While most people tend to believe that art isn’t something that fits into a strict definition, we think about these definitions because they help us develop our own thoughts about art. Every definition has its flaws, but they also have their strengths. By examining them, we sharpen and challenge our ideas about what makes one object a work of art and another one not art. What I present below are mere fragments of these ideas, so please reach out if you would like to know where to read more for a fuller understanding.
Imitation
The longest running definition (or theory) of art is the imitation theory, which began with Plato. It is often known as mimesis theory (mimesis is Greek for imitation), and it led to what we think of as representational art. Plato believed that all art imitates nature, and that is art’s function. And for much of human history, especially without cameras, paintings and sculptures created the only visual record of people, life, and culture. For Plato, art did not present the truth because it imitates nature, which imitates perfect ideas. In other words, art is twice removed from the truth. He has a much longer explanation about this in his dialogues.
Plato, however, believed that art was powerful. In fact, it was so powerful that, in his Republic, he claimed (through the words of Socrates) that it should be removed from the just city. He worried that the power of art would corrupt the youth and lead to destruction. We may not feel exactly the same way. But, even today, many people blame violence on heavy metal music and video games. So, we haven’t completely abandoned Plato’s views. And even though a lot of artwork does not imitate or represent anything (e.g., abstract painting), many examples of representational art continue to be made and appreciated.
Catharsis
While not strictly speaking a definition of art, I find it helpful to discuss the notion of catharsis in this context as it offers a foil of sorts to Plato’s version of imitation. Aristotle accepted the basic idea of the imitation theory about art. But unlike his teacher Plato, Aristotle maintained that art could be used to teach people. Art imitates the things and events we experience in the physical world, rather than immaterial ideas beyond the physical.
In particular, Aristotle, in his Poetics, mentions that tragedies provide catharsis. We define catharsis as a release of emotion. When you feel sad, I suspect you prefer listening to music that reflects your mood. Really happy music may even seem annoying in those moments. Human beings all experience tragedy at some point and to varying degrees. Fictional depictions of tragedy help us deal with our own feelings. Thus, for Aristotle, imitation art helps us learn how to be more human to ourselves and to others. Art can teach us empathy.
Aesthetic Theories
You may have heard someone say about art that they know it when they see it. Andy Warhol’s Brillo Box made that statement more difficult to sustain, since his work looked identical to the real Brillo boxes. The basic idea behind this family of theories is that the work of art has an aesthetic purpose. Some insist that the aesthetic considerations must be the main thing, while others think that aesthetics must be one aspect but not necessarily the most important one. But they agree that artwork is made to create the possibility of an aesthetic experience, which is the pleasurable enjoyment of beauty or other such properties.
Artwork may have other purposes, like religious, political, or historical, but without good aesthetic features, people would not be drawn to them. These theories assert that the aesthetic features at least enhance any other purpose the artwork may possess. Even works of art that subvert aesthetics, like perhaps Duchamp’s Fountain, require that art generally employs aesthetics for the subversion to make sense. To sum up this group of theories, artists make conscious decisions about the aesthetics of the work in order to make possible an aesthetic experience (to some degree) in the beholders of this work.
Conclusion
This post is merely an overview of these theories; they are more detailed than we could explain here. But even this short explanation should help you see that trying to understand art has taken philosophers and others down many different paths. I have tried to suggest ways in which we may still use these definitions, even if none of them presents a complete understanding of art by themselves. They all provide a framework for thinking about some works of art. In a future post, I will present the three main contemporary theories of art, which help provide more fodder for thinking about what makes something art.
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Thank you for an interesting and concise summation of the major Greek philosophers’ views on the role and value of art! I wasn’t familiar with Aristotle’s ideas about art, and I am interested in knowing more about classical Greek concepts.