2/10/19

1. The first video talked about the differences that the ancient philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, had when it came to discussing beauty, art, and aesthetics. While mostly concerned with logic and reasoning, philosophers have always had great respect for the role that art and aestheticism have in the human experience. Something that I took away from this video was how Aristotle felt as if stong "negative emotions", such as pity and fear, were good for the citizenry of Athens and for people in general, which was different from Plato's view and most others during that time. The example of Picasso's painting correlated well with this point, showcasing that something can be both dark/tragic/sad as well as being beautiful in it's own right. Another segment of this video that I found particularly interesting was the part on Dianisis, who conjured the impulse to dissolve the ego, lose all limits and let go to pleasure and delirium. Overall, this video was interesting because it showcased just how diverse the idea of art/beauty is itself, and how that plays into how one should go about with their lives. 

The second video talked about the correlation between aesthetics and human neuroscience/neurobiology. As a biology major, I found this video interesting. It showcases the need for art and aesthetics as a tool for humans to communicate emotion and higher-order ideas that cannot be expressed via ordinary modes of communication. I think the idea that humans have evolved in a special way that allows us to communicate the sorts of emotions and ideas is a fascinating idea. This video really points at what an artist is physically trying to do through his/her art, which shares their conception of the world with other people. The speaker claims that the purpose of art itself is to make us aware of our own existence, which we cannot learn on our own, but through the artistic collaboration with other humans. 

2. I believe that Aristotle's view of Aesthetics is most important because he emphasized the importance of tragedy to the human experience. Aestheticism to Aristotle was not simply about classical ideas of beauty, which was heavily connected to pure pleasure. Instead, he stressed the importance of the 'dark' side of aesthetics, which includes all of the 'negative' emotions that we all experience as humans, and he considered these emotions as just as beautiful as the pleasing ones. I think that this is an important message to understand when studying art as it applies to our daily lives. 

3. The scientific view of aesthetics and art from the videos was very interesting. Trying to understand the universal principles of art, while taking into consideration the cultural aspects of art, is an interesting way to look into human nature itself. The speaker talked about the purpose of art is to purposely exaggerate aspects of humanity that appeal to the human brain, even though it is not realistic, per se. The universal principles of art, compared to the culturally influenced aspects of art, is something that I found most interesting about these lectures, and is something that I hope to learn more about throughout the semester. 

4. The video's and article relate to the text in that, they both talk about the relationship between art and religion. They speak of religion as almost a higher, more abstract scope of the human experience. What all of the video/texts are trying to do is to change your point of view of fundamental questions of life, which is something that you don't always have the opportunity to do when studying natural sciences/mathmatics. 

5. All of these materials stressed the importance of using art as a tool for contextualizing the world in front of us. Instead of viewing art as something pretty to look at, seeing it as a mirror of an artists view of the world itself can provide insight into what our own worldviews are. Art has the ability to shape how we view the world and how we map it out in order to proceed in it. The videos provide links between philosophy, biology, history and art, which to some people, may not seem like areas that overlap too much. I enjoyed being able to see how a lot these things fold into each other.