PART 6- METAESTHETIC VIEW FROM MEDIEVAL TO RENAISSANCE

The most significant transition in Western aesthetic thought took place at the end of the medieval period and blossomed into the Renaissance (1300-1600). I cannot find a clear explanation in the history of aesthetic thought that outlines the points at which this transition occurred. I will attempt to do it in this post, namely present the key medieval ideas that were expanded upon by Renaissance thinkers.

Point 1. Beauty was one of the names of God for medieval thinkers. Beauty was considered a mirror or veil which reflected or revealed aspects of God in the Renaissance. For this reason the study of nature was elevated in the Renaissance era which is why science was not separated from religious devotion. Many of the great early scientists were clergyman in the Renaissance.

Point 2. In medieval aesthetic thought mathematics, design and harmony deepened the meaning of an object by imparting a sense of intentionality and intelligence to it.
In the Renaissance, mathematics and geometry held mystical qualities and were used by most artists of the time as the scaffolding upon which their compositions were built.
For instance, the Golden Section can be found in both Gothic Cathedrals such as Chartres as well as in Renaissance paintings. Both medieval and Renaissance eras celebrated the science of mathematics as a metaphysical language. Artists as well as early scientists were united in the love of numbered rationality. Metaesthetics and mathematics are expressions of profound harmony in the universe.

Point 3. The medieval period held fine craftsmanship in the highest esteem while in the Renaissance it was a common belief that "what was hard to do" was the proof of outstanding human achievement.

Point 4. The great medieval thinkers, Aquinas and Augustine, believed that Beauty and imagination acted as a bridge between the human and divine realms. In the Renaissance this view was also held but with the added focus on human intelligence seen as the conscious application of imagination in the making of beautiful works of art. Human intelligence was valued as the crown of nature because conscious awareness of beauty and design in art and nature elevates these things into rational cognition. Here geometry and mathematics, drawing and shading, perspective and composition--- using the elements of nature, all of these were harmonized in the mind of the artist in the creation of beautiful works of art.

Point 5. The medieval era launched the first universities in the Western world and learning was highly valued where it could be found. In the Renaissance, because of the proliferation of manuscripts and libraries, private individuals could obtain knowledge that was previously the possession of the few. The Renaissance era saw an explosion in learning and the best artists were usually highly learned. Leonardo and Michelangelo for instance were the equals of the best educated men of their time. Previously medieval artisans were masons and craftsmen with limited formal education. Knowledge was associated with the wisdom of God for Michelangelo who aspired to please God by developing all his rational potential in thought, art and life.


Point 6. Art objects, such as the stained glass window or cathedral acted as symbols for "substance dualism" in the medieval age. In the Renaissance the work of art was less a demonstration of the distinct differences of matter and spirit and far more of an "incarnation" where the spirit was given expression in the things of nature and art.

The mind of the artist was according to da Vinci, like the mind of God in that what an artist could conceive in his imagination he or she could (with proper training) make real and evident in a work of art. In essence the Renaissance artist understood art-making as having moral and metaesthetic meaning ie. creation was considered a metaphysical action.

This deep respect for artistic action effectively lifted the artist out of the lower status of a mere craftsman into that of the esteemed philosopher and theologian. The ability to make a work of Beauty was a difficult thing to do and like all things that are hard to achieve it was the living proof of a god-like power--- hence the metaesthetic character that was given to art in the Renaissance.

PART 5 - MEDIEVAL AESTHETICS

The Medieval ages (which I count from the 800s to the 1200s) brought a new set of concerns to the Western mind in its quest to understand aesthetics. What makes Medieval aesthetics a bit different from Greek and Roman thought has to do with the Christian view of God as above nature and whose Mind is reflected in the Beauty, Purpose and Goodness that can be found in nature. While appreciating the marvelous things in nature the problem for these Christian thinkers was to not confuse God with nature--to avoid animism or pantheism which considered that god was essentially the same as nature.

Deep Christian thinkers like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas were worried that Greek and Roman aesthetic thought advocated pantheism and animism by not separating the Creator Being from the things of creation. Medieval thought championed by Augustine and Aquinas citing Judeo/Christian views of Creation defined the distinction of Spirit (God and the human spirit) and and Matter (nature and the human body) as interactive yet distinct from one another. This view came to be called "Substance Dualism" but it can also be described as a unity in the "Incarnation" where spirit resides in flesh.

Central to this Incarnation view is the doctrine of the "Logos" where God in Jesus Christ became a human being and took on flesh as fully God and man. Physical Beauty was elevated to a level that it never been in the Greek and Roman system because of the Logos concept. For subsequent Christian artists and theologians nature and matter was blessed and considered Good in that it revealed aspects of God's thought and character. In yet another way the character of Creator/Redeemer was revealed in the life of Christ in the New Testament of the Bible.

Art in the Medieval era was the same thing as craft but craft was held in high esteem as in the refined properties of jewelry, illuminated manuscripts and beautiful objects of all sorts-- made in imitation of the fine things of nature--for instance the wing of a bird or the human eye.

The world's harmony seen on the Cosmic scale was for these thinkers a sign of divine origin and number, found in nature a principle of spiritual thought with mathematics, guided by deep spiritual emotion and enlightened passion the unity of matter and spirit on the human plane.

Shining forms, shaped effulgence, clarity, light in nature and art forms were considered by Thomas Aquinas as a visible shell of an underlying Divine Reality or as symbols to be contemplated by humankind to discern the hand of an Eternal Artist-Creator. Beauty informed finely made objects if they were crafted by artisans who lovingly incarnated their art with energy and Grace.

A key art form of the era was the stained glass window. It was bright, shining, clear and splendid hence all the things Aquinas admired in nature. Glass windows allowed light to pass though planes of pure color bringing physical beauty to life while at the same time illuminating the sacred stories depicted in the windows. The complex designs of the window showed number. measured forms and pure gem-like colors which Aquinas said reflected the glowing light of God. This measured proportion is also prevalent in the Gregorian chant that echoed within the intricate interior of the Gothic cathedral yet another measured and jewel-like structure. All based on complex mathematical laws as found in nature.

What made the glass window a perfect means to contemplate eternal ideas was that the light (like spirit) though separate from the window could enter and pass though it without being the same substance as the glass. This was a graphic example of "Substance Dualism" where the light, like God can enter creation cover it with light while being distinct from the objects the light shines upon.

So Medieval art reminds us how complex their thinking about aesthetics was. You can read more about the symbolism of stained glass windows in the handout I gave each of you last night.

Part Four: AFTER ARISTOTLE -- ROMAN ERA AESTHETICS

In the centuries following Aristotle, Roman and early Christian thinkers took a great interest in art and added rich detail to Aristotle's probing insights into aesthetic experience.

Two of the best known Roman era thinkers were probably Greek trained philosophers: Plotinus and Theophrastus who provided us with great descriptions of the techniques of art-making and of art's more mystical potential. Aristoxenus offered innovative insight into the nature of music and composition theory. Because of the prevalence of Stoic Philosophy which promoted restraint and self-mastery the general mood of aesthetic thought in this era promoted mastery of the materials of art and of artistic restraint.

Most important of all was a growing sense of history itself and the history of aesthetic thought as it had evolved. There was as part of this historical consciousness a rediscovery of Aristotle's writings. Cicero the great conscience of his age saw the excess and weakness of a declining Roman culture and spoke out against the arena where wanton bloodshed and the wholesale slaughter of humans and animals was offered as entertainment. He also reminded readers of the more heroic qualities of the best of Greek and Roman literature along with the moral values promoted. Plutarch thought deeply about a cult of ugliness in vogue in the art of his time.

Longinus like Aristotle, believed that great style in art springs from an artist's inner-greatness and requires humane character and inner strength. Chrysostom added to Longinus and believed that art is the revealing of the artist's vision--the more splendid and sublime the vision the more compelling the artistic expression. Plotinus a Christian thinker having studied many art forms and techniques believed that Beauty is the projection of love onto perception and that the impulse to love what is experienced is a "metaphysical homesickness". He believed our love of the external world of beauty in nature and art is a mystical/spiritual urge to return to God and a Heavenly Home. What Plato had called the Realm of Perfect Forms and Ideals-- Plotinus understood as a true and final home in Eternity with the Divine Creator.

ARISTOTLE & AESTHETICS - PART 3 - Hist. of Aesthetics

As we saw in the last post Plato had mixed views of art and aesthetic experience when considered from a cultural point of view. Aristotle, who was a student of Plato, took his teachers concerns to heart and pondered them. Being a strong observer of nature and culture rather than a pure thinker (like Plato) Aristotle thought he could unravel some of the doubts of his master through the scientific observation of art in culture and form and function within nature. Here are some of the key points of Aristotle on art and Aesthetics:

1. Nature is dynamic and designed for a purpose. 2. Art emulates nature; the arts and especially music are patterned energy created for a purpose to move another emotionally. 3. Just as we move from infancy and instinct toward adulthood and mature thought, so we see a similar evolution in humanities comprehension of art from instinct to patterned thought and logically guided form to evoke certain emotions and ideas. 4. the way a great tragic play is organized to produce insight shows a logic that is scientific and purpose-driven by the writer or designer. 5. Fantasy is the cause of poetry and shows a fusion of form and matter into a pattern which is driven by the purpose to teach a lesson. Fantasy can be used for pleasure and for a good. 6. Catharsis which is the release of deep emotion, grief, sadness etc. can be achieved by a good play (in our era film, book, etc) 7. A viewer of a good film or play etc. experiences rational or logically patterned emotion leading to a moral point or practical lesson or the release of a painful memory or emotion and is therefore good in that sense. 8. Aristotle celebrated the remarkable ways in which art media can be shaped by humans and he could not stop talking about the skill of the artist/shape-maker who was like God in creative/shaping capacity and artistic logic. In the end Aristotle believed that art and fantasy are of real benefits to society if used wisely by mature artists for the good of others.

A Singular Aesthetic Experience

Please go to the link below for OK Go's White Knuckles video, and you would also enjoy the This Too Shall Pass marching band and the Rube Goldberg Machine, among others:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHlJODYBLKs

HISTORY OF AESTHETICS - PART 2 -PLATOS VIEW

Plato who is famous for his Platonic dialog or discussion approach to philosophy had much to say about art and aesthetics. His views were a mixture of admiration for the arts and serious concerns about the misuse and abuse of the imagination in the practice of the artistic life.

Much of what Plato worried about continues to surface in our own era even though many of contemporary critics know little about Plato. The reason for the on-going concern about the arts has to do with the impact of the arts on society when this influence seems negative as in the case of violence films and games which seem to dull the moral restraint of troubled people.

Here are some of Plato's ideas and issues:

1. Art is mainly skill, clever manipulation of paint or stone or in our era the film or digital media. 2. Sometimes the artist is much more than skillful and may be wise and able to say something of value through the arts which makes it more than skill alone. 3. Art is at its worse nothing more than a mirror of reality, passive and unmediated sense experience alone. 4. At its very worse art is fantasy and can corrupt the logical operations of the mind. 5. Music of all the art forms moves most directly out of the soul and follows the souls inner rhythms it therefore can calm the soul if the motions are complementary to the operations of the soul and has a beneficial influence on society at large if more Classical in nature. 6. Art's whole apparatus can, under ideal circumstances, serve a moral purpose for society if made by wise and moral makers. 7. BEAUTY is the realization of the visits of the Divine on humanity. 8. BEAUTY, LIGHT, MEASURE AND PROPORTION are observable in NATURE and point to a Divine maker and like good music move the soul to balance and joy. 9. In summation art may be poor philosophy according to many thinkers but philosophy at its best is excellent art. . . this apparent contradiction shows that art is powerful and not easily understood or easily dismissed by even one of humankind's greatest minds, namely Plato.

Bill

Historical View of Aesthetics-- Part One

The earliest discussion of aesthetics took place in ancient Greece some 500 years before Christ. We find fragments of discussion involving thinkers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle which reveal a tension between the arts of poetry and the early practice of philosophy. The tension surrounded the idea that a poet visionary like Homer who began to script Greek mythology was somehow inspired in a way that a logician/philosopher was not. Socrates and Plato who were great logicians were worried that a poet like Homer might be carried away with his fantasies and in this way mislead others either by giving them fallacious information or to encourage such free-wheeling visionary activities.

Art and Aesthetics as we have come to know them would evolve out of this early tension between philosophy and Poetry with each century adding some fresh insight to the debate. One century might look at the problem from the point of view of psychology and say hey--the poet can reveal unconscious insights so the poet/artist is valuable to society. This move toward psychic insight is where Aristotle comes into the picture. He will be one of the first of the ancient Greeks to point out that the poet, artist is one who is highly aware of his five senses and of the surrounding Cosmos or Universe. The skill with with Homer makes the world of nature appear before our minds eye through his gift of inspired language Aristotle considered a real benefit to humankind. The awareness itself was the portal to the Common Senses and to appreciation of the natural realm. Here is where science and philosophy are actually aided by the arts. The tension can be relieved between the arts and philosophy through the insights of Aristotle.