Philosophical Perspectives

Functions & Philosophical Perspectives

"TELOS" - PURPOSE

3 Functions of Art:

1. Personal - artwork is created for self-consumption

2. Physical - artwork is created for physical purposes

3. Social - artwork is created to address an issue towards other individuals

3 Philosophical Perspectives

1. Plato - "knowledge is important in creating artwork", "art is mimesis" (mimesis: imitation of an imitation) , "art is useless"

According to Plato, there are 2 worlds:

• world of ideas (true and perfect)

• physical world

2. Aristotle - agrees that art is mimesis, but has a different perspective, "artists are useful to society", "art is a representation", claims that "artists enables us to experience things that we ourselves cannot", "artwork is a pleasure"

3. Leo Tolstoy - "art communicates one's feelings", for Tolstoy, art is a language