Aesthetics, Philosophers, and Science

The video, “Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts,” touches on a variety of philosophers and their theories on aesthetics. All philosophers have their own views on art and aesthetics but somehow all have the same main ideas about art as a way to express emotions and show creativity. Aesthetics is defined as the nature of beauty another universal thought. The video took us through the history of art showing us the differences both in opinion and the differences in styles of art from romantic, to Greek, to contemporary a van garde art.


I feel that Aristotle’s (4th Century B.C.) theory on aesthetics is most important. He said, “There is beauty by which all things are beautiful”, and I feel that this is a very important because beauty is truly “in the eye of the beholder”. What is the real definition of beautiful? Some feel beauty is perfection and some think things are beautiful that others do not. This concept is true in art. Artists “reason through the senses”.

The video, “CARTA: Neurobiology Neurology and Art and Aesthetics,” discusses how art is genetically built into a person and done by the brain. Many people say that the two worlds can never intertwine, science and art, because science discovers universal principles and art emphasizes individuality, but there is a science to art, universal principles across all cultural boundaries.

I felt that both Changeux and Ramachandran were great speakers and I can relate to their interest in the sciences and in art, as a Biology Major. It was fascinating to hear, when Ramachandran talked about how the mind distorts the picture to please the human brain and that is why things come out looking all contorted like Pablo Picasso’s paintings. I also thought it was very interesting when Changeux discussed how artistic interpretation is up to the individual. You would think of course, everyone has their own opinion, but he went more in depth, talking about how you brain controls the number of possible representations the an artist can have. By doing this, the brain is therefore controlling and creating the artists unique style.

The videos help me to see what I have read in the textbook in a new light. For example, In the textbook we read about context and how the context of an art piece is what ties the creator of the piece to the art itself. It is the background from where it came from, why it was made and now how it connects to its audience. In the film we learned how culture effects art work and how over time art and aesthetics of art have changed.  I felt that the films really went well with the readings and they both were very fascinating, I learned a lot from both. It was comforting for me to see my two worlds tied in together in the one film that gave a scientific view on art.