Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art Practice Exam Flashcards

VOCABULARY flashcards based on lecture notes covering aesthetics, philosophy of art, and cultural history.

Arthur Danto

Philosopher who argues that perceiving something like 'Fountain' as art requires an atmosphere of artistic theory and knowledge of art history.

Artworld

The institutional and theoretical context that Danto argues is necessary to perceive an object as an artwork.

Feminist Movement (Impact on Art)

Spawned movements like contextualism, brought art back into societal contexts, and raised ethical and political questions.

Contextualism

An ideological movement spawned by the feminist movement that places art within a broader societal or historical context.

Mr Blobby

A specimen of the blobfish caught off the coast of New Zealand in 2003 by the crew of the RV Tangoroa.

1,000 meters

The typical depth below the ocean surface where the blobfish 'Mr Blobby' is found.

Novitz (Fictional Works)

Claims correct understanding requires one to interpret and treat a fictional story as if it were real.

Taylor (Portrayal of Black Characters)

Argues that portraying Black characters as victims in films reinforces harmful stereotypes.

Tom Leddy (Superficial Aesthetic Qualities)

Refers to qualities like tidiness or messiness as important parts of aesthetic experience in both artistic and non-artistic environments.

Berleant (Living Environment)

Identifies human interaction with the environment as the most important factor in evaluating the aesthetics of the living environment.

Feminist Art and Black Aesthetics

Both fields challenge traditional assumptions about the nature of art and artistic beauty.

Emotional Description of Art

Occurs because artworks can evoke specific emotions in viewers.

Original vs. Derivative Work (Contextualism)

The main difference is defined by the specific creative conditions under which the artwork was produced.

Tom Waits's Music (Reception)

Perceived by critics and musicians as adventure songs or Halloween music that combines tradition with innovation.

Non-evaluative Description

A description of an artwork that refers to form or color without commenting on its artistic value.

Berys Gaut

Author of 'Interpreting the Arts: The Patchwork Theory' who challenges global theories of interpretation.

Pythagoras (Music)

Viewed music as a tool to explore order and purify the soul.

R. G. Collingwood (True Art)

Believed true art consists of a spiritual activity or the self-reflective clarification of the artist.

Mindfulness Meditation

A technique that can help overcome neurological obstacles to effectively thinking about the future.

Kant (Evaluation of Beauty)

Proposed that beauty is evaluated through intuition rather than comparing objects to a definite concept.

Shusterman (Good Art)

Argues that prioritizing good art can be justified by its role in serving the ultimate moral benefit.

Anti-intentionalist Perspective (Wimsatt and Beardsley)

Holds that the correct interpretation is the one that best fits the artwork itself, regardless of authorial intent.

Monroe C. Beardsley (Toaster)

Believed a toaster can be a work of art if it is intended to satisfy aesthetic preferences.

Ronald W. Hepburn

Philosopher who questioned why modern philosophers were indifferent to natural beauty in his 1966 article.

Creativity (Futures Thinking)

The strength of transcending traditional ideas to invent new possibilities and imagine things that do not exist today.

Anderson and Dean

Philosophers who argued that the moral value and aesthetic value of an artwork are unrelated.

Levinson (Appropriate Reader)

A reader with knowledge of the literary tradition, familiarity with the author's other works, and knowledge of the author's public persona.

Subversive Filmmaking Example

Carroll uses the film 'Plan 9 from Outer Space' as an example to discuss this concept.

Ars

A term mentioned as far back as the Middle Ages to describe areas of skill.

Aristotle vs. Plato (Poetry)

Aristotle disagreed with Plato, arguing that poetry is a uniquely human characteristic.

Hegel (Art vs. Nature)

Reversed previous priorities by explicitly valuing the beauty of art over the beauty of nature.

G.W.F. Hegel

Argued that the beauty of art is a product of human intellect and therefore superior to natural beauty.

Daniel Durchholz

Modern critic who described Tom Waits's voice as being soaked in a vat of bourbon and ran over with a car.

Joseph Margolis

Philosopher who argued that if all tokens of an artwork are destroyed, the artwork itself ceases to exist.

Morris Weitz

Philosopher who argued that art is an 'open' concept that cannot be defined by necessary and sufficient conditions.

Anne Eaton

Argues that removing the special position of the artist or critic perpetuates the historically male-dominated 'default' position.

Introduction: Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art

A text designed to highlight central themes in the Western aesthetic tradition.

The Sublime (Kant)

A sense of pronounced awe created by nature, where something is literally 'awesome'.

Blobfish Diet

Consists of organic matter particles found in deep ocean waters.

Paul Ziff

Argued that any 'real' definition of art is fruitless because it is always subject to change with the next artistic revolution.

Radical Constructivism

A view where two different interpretations of the same object result in two different artworks.

Amie Thomasson

Defines a revolutionary art theory as one that explains art in a new way.

Francis Hutcheson

Eighteenth-century philosopher who argued that beauty is found in 'uniformity amidst variety'.

George Dickie

Philosopher who argued that recognition by the art world is the factor that constitutes an object as a work of art.

Elegant

A term that typically denotes a value judgment when assessing an artwork.

Jerrold Levinson (Creation)

Argues that works of art depend on pre-existing art by adhering to, advancing, or challenging traditions.

Patchwork Theory

Berys Gaut's theory arguing against a global theory of interpretation, noting authors can fail to achieve intended meanings.

Earl of Shaftesbury

Anthony Ashley Cooper, who believe the perception of beauty is based on an innate concept.

Aristotle (Imitation)

Believed artists can improve upon reality by incorporating universals into their imitation.

Aristotle (Beauty components)

Defined beauty in terms of size and order, emphasizing moderation.

Pythagoras vs. Gorgias

Pythagoras believed art purifies the soul, while Gorgias believed art has a stimulating effect on emotions.

Marsilio Ficino

Scholar who translated Plato's complete works into Latin, contributing to the revival of Platonic thought.

Ficino on Perception

Beauty is perceived through mental alignment with innate ideas of beauty.

Levinson (New Work of Art)

Defined a new work of art based on its relationship with pre-existing art.

Krausz's Theory

Suggests that interpreting a song like 'Last Leaf' as being about death is correct if it adds to the work's meaning.

Tom Waits's Albums

Described as having varied levels of accessibility, from commercially friendly to highly eclectic.

Robert Stecker

Suggested that the ultimate purpose of our interest in art is the joy that art brings.

Philip Pettit

Argued the most important thing for experiencing art is being in a suitable position or condition.

Leon Battista Alberti

Contended that judgments of beauty are based on an innate sense and lead to universal agreement.

Frank Sibley

Argued that non-aesthetic qualities can influence aesthetic qualities but do not guarantee them.

Levinson (Literary Meaning)

Specifically advocates for 'utterance meaning' to determine the meaning of a literary work.

Ontological Model (Natural Kinds)

Does not apply to art because artworks are created by humans rather than discovered in nature.

Clive Bell's 'Art'

A 1914 book outlining the formalist theory of art.

Collingwood (Advantage of View)

His perspective distinguishes the artwork (spiritual) from the art-object (material).

Oswald Hanfling

Defined an artwork as a creation whose primary function is to provide aesthetic satisfaction to others.

Aristotle's Tragedy

A story about unfortunate events happening to people with good character.

Tragedy's Appeal (Aristotle)

Tragedy is appealing because its plot is arranged in a logical chain of cause and effect.

The Exorcist (Scare Factor)

Considered scary because it evokes primal human fears despite being fiction.

Society of Independent Artists

The organization in New York that rejected Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain' in 1917.

Fountain (1917)

A porcelain urinal submitted as a 'Readymade' by Marcel Duchamp.

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

A famous 1907 painting by Pablo Picasso (Duchamp is incorrectly associated with it in some quiz options).

Fine Art (18th Century)

The concept that emerged to group the generic 'Arts' together and distinguish them from other skills.

Louis Daguerre

His invention of photography affirmed art's departure from mere imitation (mimesis).

Jeanette Bicknell

Argued that performers and audiences should focus on the song's significance to the audience when performing blues.

Virginia Woolf (Writing Requirements)

Famously stated a woman needs money, a room of her own, and educational attainment to write.

Black Square (1915)

A representative work of Suprematism by Kasimir Malevich exhibited in the '0-10' show.

Alexander Benois

Art critic who called 'Black Square' aloof and arrogant due to its placement in the 'icon corner' of the exhibition.

Ugly Animal Preservation Society

Awarded 'Mr Blobby' the title of the world's ugliest animal in 2013.

Torquato Tasso

Argued that the beauty of art originates from direct imitation of the beauty of nature.

Zen Garden

Traditional Eastern art form creating harmonious landscapes with rocks, water, and plants.

Vietnamese Harmony

A concept emphasizing appreciation and cultivation of aesthetic principles in art and daily life.

Dragon (Vietnamese Art)

A symbol of nobility and grandeur commonly appearing in sculptures and decorations.

Daoism (Laozi)

Argues for 'wu wei' (Vovi), implying compliance with the laws of nature.

Post-Impressionism

Style characterized by non-representational elements and a departure from pure realism.

Six Principles of Chinese Painting

A foundational document for Chinese painting theory authored by Xie He.

Sa Huynh Culture

The prehistoric background upon which the Champa civilization was formed.

Critical Nihilism

The view that there are no correct interpretations of a work because no work means any particular thing.

Critical Monism

The interpretation theory that there is only one truly correct interpretation of a work.

Don Featherstone (1957)

Designer of the iconic pair of pink plastic flamingos.

Alexander Baumgarten

The first to use the term 'Aesthetic' in a philosophical context in the 18th century.

Polykleitos

Ancient Greek sculptor who created figures depicting the idealized beauty of the male body.

Hippias Major

Plato's early dialogue where Socrates suggests beauty is what makes us feel joy through sight and sound.

St. Thomas Aquinas

Most influential philosopher of the Medieval period who defined beauty through proportion, integrity, and brightness.

Brilliance (Medieval)

One of the three qualities of beauty proposed by St. Thomas Aquinas (claritas).

Alberti (Source of Beauty)

Contended that beauty is found in nature as an objective quality.

Impressionism

Painting style characterized by visible brush strokes, emphasis on light, and portrayal of movement.

Roger Fry

Art critic along with Clive Bell who championed the formalist theory of art.

0,10 (Zero-Ten)

The title of the 1915 exhibition in Petrograd where Suprematist works were first debuted.

The Laws (Plato)

Dialogue where Plato suggests beauty is found in proportions, harmonies, and order.

Scarlett Johansson (2008 Album)

'Anywhere I Lay My Head', consisting almost entirely of Tom Waits cover songs.