6. History of Aesthetics - Aristotle on Art

Aristotle was a student of Plato, but also eventually a teacher of Alexander the Great. After giving an overview of Aristotle’s view of beauty, we can also address his view of art. Aristotle wrote one work dedicated entirely to art, though it’s focus was on literature. It’s called Poetics, and it was written around 335 BC. This work remains incomplete as it only discusses tragedy; the section on comedy is either lost or was never fully realized. But this work provides the closest explanation of Aristotle’s view of art.

Aristotle’s View of Art

Like his teacher Plato, Aristotle held onto the theory of mimesis, which means imitation. However, they differed on the implications of the imitation theory. Plato, as you may recall, wanted to remove the poets and artists from the city because they were twice removed from the truth and they might negatively affect the youth. Aristotle, on the other hand, believed that imitation was useful for learning; and that people, the most imitative creatures in the world, learn first by imitation. Even today, we acknowledge infants and children learn by imitating from smiling back at you to saying words you frequently say.