Havlicek-Ferguson Aesthetic Profile

The extent to which an artwork, or any aesthetic object, can be objectively characterized is sensitive and controversial. It is commonly felt that deconstruction detracts from aesthetic experience, although I do not believe that this is true. In fact, reductive analysis necessarily broadens the scope of any aesthetic experience and subtracts nothing from it. For the last several years, Bill Havlicek and I have been engaged in a philosophical discussion around this question with a purported artificial intelligence calling itself Constructive Reductor. For this purpose Bill and I have cooked up a simple instrument that we call the Havlicek-Ferguson Aesthetic Profile (HFAP) which allows a rater to characterize her aesthetic experience in terms of the elements listed below, each on a scale of 1 to 10. For each element I have suggested an artist or thinker who might score high on it.

Craft skill (Escher)

Expressive depth (Dufrenne)

Neurobiological stimulus (Ramachandran)

Psychobiological stimulus (Freud)

Archetypal stimulus (Jung)

Intellectual appeal (Close)

Ideological appeal (Rivera)

Expression of an alternative world (Dali)

Novelty (Breton)

Creativity (Pollock)

Complexity (Mandelbrot)

Social alliance (Warhol)

Economic value (Van Gogh)

Comfort or threat (Max or Bosch)

Nostalgic association (Rockwell)

Consensual/Controversial (Rockwell/Ernst)

 See http://www.fergi.com/aesthetics.htm for HPAP forms and a brief description of these categories.

Conclusion: Part 10 - 20th & 21st Century Aesthetics

This final post will offer an overview of the trends in 20th and 21st century aesthetic thought. As will become apparent the past century and our brief movement into the present century have been eras of great uncertainty and diversity. Yet the diversity is a reminder that the entire history of aesthetics is diverse and that any single artist can hold multiple views.

In the Interwar era (1919-1939) three general aesthetic outlooks arose and have been identified in the acronym "CUT": Critical, Utopian and Transcendental. Each of these broad views are rooted in the myriad ideas that begin with Nietzsche and others and which I have sketched out below. Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth can both be understood as holding all three "CUT"views at the same time in their art. Others, such as Georgia O'Keefe were more transcendent tending to shy away from the more critical and Utopian nuances one finds in Hopper or Wyeth. Decidedly Utopian views are seen in Russian Socialist art which promoted the contradictory ideals of a new and perfect social order. The "CUT" application to individual artists is presented in Brenden Prendeville's book -- "Realism in 20th Century Painting" published in 2000.

In any case it is important to remember that human beings are capable of holding layered views of reality rather than simple, singular or simplistic worldviews. Reality is complex and even contradictory and aesthetic thought must express this complexity in layered and nuanced ways. I hope the overview that follows will offer some clarity and insight into the rich range of ideas that follow us into our own era and assist each of us in identifying and modifying and layering our aesthetic worldviews and aesthetic road maps.

To begin with, the last breath of the 19th century seems to have been breathed with Nietzsche who believed that the ideals of art as offering solace and harmony for the mind and spirit were doomed. He felt that art and its role in promoting existence was at an end and that human history was headed toward catastrophe and crises. His concern was manifested in WWI. The one redeeming idea that Nietzsche held onto was that art allowed for expression of inner emotion and here he agreed in part with Aristotle who saw the cathartic release that art could provide humanity in the face of tragedy.

Other thinkers of the age were not as pessimistic as Nietzsche. For instance Richard Wagner the great German composer encouraged a return to the Romantic view of art as a celebration of human life as part of the fruitful embracing of nature with a strong emotional outpouring of passion. His views though formulated in the late 19th century resonated into the 20th. Hitler for instance idolized Wagner who thought of art as a means of escape from reality and wanted to create events that would merge all of the arts into a grand spectacle of opera, art, myth, drama etc.; events that would last for days at a time and which would require retreating from daily life to enter such powerful escape mechanisms.

Hitler made use of this Wagnerian ideal in his grand spectacles of military power with thousands of Nazi soldiers, drummers and flags fluttering over acres of paved power formations. Wagner's dream of a grand spectacle was achieved only in opera but even on stage it was never on the scale and for the several days at a time duration he envisioned. Modern film and the Mega-plex screen experience or hyper-rock concerts approach some of Wagner's dream of art as vast spectacle but only years later, long after his death.

Other views of the eras include Schopenhauer who saw paradox in the blind striving for purpose in the face of the loss of reason for existence spoken of by Nietzsche. Later after the First World War ended numerous politically related aesthetic theories appeared. Some were Marxist views with art used to criticize culture and the idea that art should be bought and sold considered a loss of power for art. Another set of theories known as "Critical Theory" arose championed by Adorno and other German thinkers who saw art as less Marxist but critical in its reaction against cultural excess, in particular American materialism, commercialism and mass advertising. Art as criticism was reactive and had little to do with self expression. Its aim was broadly social not individualistic.Adorno and the Critical thinkers were reacting also to a strong current of Hedonistic Pessimism in Europe that artists such as Beardsley and Oscar Wilde had promoted at the end of the 19th century.

Instead of a critical response other thinkers argued for a return to Platonic contemplation, a good example of this more reflective approach would be Santayana. Comte another of the key thinkers of the early 20th century took a more organic approach and described art as a product of human conditioning which had its ties to Darwin who considered beauty as an evolutionary device for the survival of the fittest.

In America there was a more robust view of art at the beginning of the century with Walt Whitman's idea of art as a kind of joyful labor and profitable joy with strains of a return to a Medieval love of craft as inspired labor. This was close to an art for art sake idea but it stressed the practical use of craft in service to the needs of others as in building a solid house or painting a good sign for direction. The American view of aesthetics was more pragmatic and practical in contrast to the European art for art sake mentality. This is why the "Art and Craft Movement" took root in the United States in the 20th century following its advent in England in the mid-19th century.

This pragmatic tendency seems to still hold in our country and why craftsmanship in art is still admired in our country by many. Taine although not an American advocated aesthetic views related to this pragmatic approach when he claimed that art is a product of the environment. In Russia Leo Tolstoy's view of art as a form of social communication with Naturalistic overtones was closely related to the American Pragmatic view and later American writers and social critics such as John Steinbeck would eulogize the laborer and crafts person along with a return to nature. The Hippie movement in America grew out of such views. What both America and Russia had in common were strong social visions of art. We can see this in Tolstoy, Steinbeck and the Communal oriented Hippies. Not surprising a Cold War would erupt between the two world powers over differing views of how cultivating culture should be carried out.

In Italy in the late 1920's a philosopher named Croce offered a view of art as a lyrical intuition ie. instant knowledge. Artist's like Dali who advocated dreams and intuitive thinking helped to make Croce's views widely accepted internationally but the downside of his view was that it made little of the crafting of a physical object which we call a work of art. It was as if he saw art as a process of contemplation with Platonic overtones or dream-states of mind. Where was Aristotle and the engagement with the physical process one would ask of Croce?

John Dewey in America seems to have offered a challenge to Croce. In the 1930's Dewey stressed a non-dualistic view of art as less intuition and more as pragmatic interaction with the real object and the natural environment and ones surrounding society. John Steinbeck another American in tune with Dewey, saw moral and ethical uses for art close to Aristotle along with other thinkers in history who promoted meaning in art and life. These views were a direct challenge to the nihilism of Nietzsche and to the "art for art sake" alone mentality more prevalent in Europe at the time.

In England in the 1940's Herbert Read followed Karl Jung and Dilthey in stressing the healing potential of art for the individual and society at large. Related to the curative views of art in a psychological sense came the Phenomenological views of thinkers such as Maurice Merleau Ponty and Mikel Dufrenne whose ideas gained currency in the 1950's and 60's and again are presently much in favor by 21st century thinkers.

At Northwestern University in Illinois there is an entire department devoted to the study of Phenomenology with courses offered on thinkers such as Ponty and Dufrenne. Here the view is that art manifests the complex inner working of sense and cognitive operations in human awareness. They see art as offering a way in which humankind can find greater understanding of the rich and diverse ways in which consciousness works. Through the study and practice of the arts there can be a renewed engagement with nature, awareness of diverse kinds of beauty and concern for making society more responsive and wise overall.

In the most recent years within Phenomenology one can see a renewed interest in moral issues having to do with personal freedom, gender issues and many other social themes. Along with these inquiries there has been a renewed interest in spiritual aspects of the arts along redemptive Renaissance lines.

A number of international Colleges such as Laguna College of Art and Design or the Florence Academy now offer a strong advocacy toward beauty using time-tested Renaissance and Academically traditional approaches to art making. There is presently a noticeable move back to beauty in art and figurative practices that celebrate nature and craft traditions in the practices of the arts. Many art schools, music schools and the like are being built and there is an international movement to open art museums or to remodel and update them. All of the Arts, concert halls and museums are seen increasingly as existing as a balm for social well-being with pragmatic and spiritual overtones. Aesthetics is always on the move like the consciousness that drives thinking, acting and making things new.

Arvo Part the Estonian composer for instance, exemplifies a bridging of the best of past and present aesthetics in his musical inventiveness with its spiritual, natural and humane synthesis. He is one of a number of thoughtful integrators of artistic practice we can learn from who are at work in our present time. Other examples include: Chuck Close, Bob Dylan, the recently deceased Andrew Wyeth and many others in the related arts of theater and film. These ardent artistic practitioners prove that art continues to edify those who seek to be edified by it.

PART 9 - THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AESTHETIC VIEW

The eighteenth century was dominated by British and French aesthetic theory with its strong interest in social theories of art but the nineteenth century as we will soon see was shaped by German thinkers who were fascinated by universal psychological and spiritual experiences. Some of the key names of the era were: Goethe, Humboldt, Schiller, Schelling, Schlegel, kant, Hegel, Schleiermacher, Wackenroder, Novalis and Schopenhauer. The overall mood of the period resonated with humanity's inherent need to establish a harmony with nature and achieve the mind's need for unity and purpose.

Nature was a model of what art and harmonious human existence should be for nature revealed clarity, utility and order. So it occurred to thinkers that a well-functioning mind should likewise be clear, balanced and well-functioning. Art that was based on the appreciative observation of natural pattern, balance, form, beauty, etc. would therefore have natural characteristics and in this way would assist humankind in achieving rational harmony and purposeful tranquility in thought and action.

There was a renewed interest in Greek Classical art at the beginning of the 19th century because Greek art and architecture featured unity, clarity and naturalness. This love of Classical art was a carryover of the rationalism of 18th century thinkers like Thomas Jefferson. It was evident to people like him that the Greek sculptors for instance had studied the human body and discerned its natural perfection and lawful construction. The beauty of Greek art had already prompted the Renaissance artist to copy Greek examples but the nineteenth century saw more of nature in Greek art and less of the philosophical idealism of Plato and Aristotle. The nineteenth century was more organic putting nature and observation firsthand and Greek philosophy in a secondary position unlike the Renaissance with its fascination with Greek texts and theories.

As the nineteenth century progressed the focus on nature expanded so that human consciousness and its ability to execute Judgment, determination and reflective states of mind while engaged in aesthetic activity became the life work of Kant who prompted a true psychology of art which he called "The Critique of Judgment." This much read work revolutionized aesthetic thinking forever.

Kant laid out principles of how the human mind bridges (through the 5 senses) the inner and outer realms of thought and the outer world of active experience. Kant was fascinated by aesthetics and how the meta-esthetical state of bridging could impact ones moral and ethical understanding. The idea was that nature's beauty and inherent design could filter into the deepest parts of the mind and prompt one to behave harmoniously, lawfully, reflectively and ultimately- morally.

Goethe then took Kant's ideas of the pure beauty of nature and human consciousness and enlarged them by focusing on Kant's interest in the sublime. The sublime has to do with experiences in nature that are so vast that they transcend the minds ability to fully grasp them. Included in the sublime would be the idea of outer-space, the vastness of the sea, mountains which are so large they cannot be fully known, blinding snowstorms, massive earthquakes, the revolving of the earth on its axis, etc.

Goethe said that art should attempt to evoke sublime awe and further, that art was a moral symbol of a state-of-being that was spiritual in essence and awesome because moral laws protect and harmonize society in the same way that the laws of nature keep it in balance.

Goethe stressed the importance of human imagination and its harmonious fusion with the intellect. Let the imagination lead you, he would say onto sublime thoughts and let those thoughts take you to moral insights on the purposes of existence including most importantly, human love which creates the desire for beauty.

Think he would say of how much art has stemmed from the experience of love and of the state of being in love as a sublime mind expanding state of consciousness. It is why we link love and Romance which are beyond our ability to fully understand. They have sublime features and the nineteenth century celebrated love in remarkable and complex ways because of the awe we have of loves power. Examples of a mother who out of love would die to protect a child or a man his family or the heroic ideal of dying for ones country. All of these were themes in 19th century art and literature and why Napoleon was able to convince over a million young Frenchmen to die for him and his romantic ideals of conquest.

Eventually the sublime of Goethe was taken up by many of the above thinkers who added mystical, romantic and religious ideas to the list. Wackenroder for instance said that art is a form of natural religious experience though it had no doctrine specifically. Novalis spoke of a mystical and magical universe which the human imagination was at-one with. There was much talk and poetic expression of the dream-life and even of aesthetic prophecy with the artist seen as a mystic, prophet and seer as in the case of William Blake and Samuel Palmer. Casper David Frederich, the German painter produced art that had mystical, prophetic qualities and was dominated by sublime images of mountains, fog banks, the vastness of the ocean or sky etc. Blake, like Casper Frederich used the Bible for visionary and mystical imagery in addition to seeking it in nature.

There was a renewed interest in Dante's "Divine Comedy" in the nineteenth century because Dante the 14th century Italian poet acted as a prophet and evoked awesome and mind-bogglingly sublime images in his poetic writings. Dore the great French 19th century illustrator illustrated the "Divine Comedy" with sublime views of heaven filled with angelic beings or hell filled with monsters and fearful and monstrous creatures.

So the view of these German thinkers was given powerful expression by artists who called themselves Romantics. The list is long but some of the key nineteenth century artists following Goethe and the other thinkers included in addition to the several listed: Geracault, Goya, Delacroix, Turner, Constable, Van Gogh for example in painting. In literature: Dickens, Hugo, Dostoevsky and in poetry: Wordsworth, Whitman, Emerson, Keats, Coleridge, Byron etc.

Here the poet/painter/writer is a seer who brings us into contact with the infinite, sublime, transcendent in order to transform our limited thinking and move us into deep insights and intentional living.

PART 8 - EIGHTEENTH CENTURY AESTHETIC THOUGHT

The 18th century was an era of passionate publishing. All over Europe aesthetic thinkers produced books and articles on aesthetic themes following the social focus on art that was unleashed in the 17th century. Printing books was a common practice in this time so that students could own or borrow a textbook; it was an age of information and the subject of what art should be was perhaps never more relevant and intensely discussed then between 1700 and 1800.

The most influential aesthetic thinking in the 18th century was centered in Britain, Italy and France. John Locke, Shaftsbury, Addison, Hutcheson, Kames, Hume, Reid, Burke Hogarth and Reynolds in England produced compelling articles. I will overview them in this Post. But before looking at the English thinkers we should have a partial listing of Italian and French writers to add to the British contingent. Vico, Gravian in Italy held much sway in the art community while in France- Dubos, Condillac, Diderot and Rousseau carried the most serious attention. Obviously the British had the largest and most compelling legion of aesthetic thinkers.

In summarizing the trend of thought in this era one leading idea can be discerned. Put simply it is: Beauty is a social sense shared by an enlightened majority and that it is constructive and appreciative in nature and function.

There was an appreciation of Plotinus in this era with a blend of Plotinus' spirituality balanced by rational methodology. A prominent saying in this respect was that "Beauty is conquered chaos", that beauty and virtue in art and society are constructive and instructive. It was believed that lasting beauty was a form of insight and teaching was essential in perceiving it. Joshua Reynolds as head of the British Academy of Art said that "there is no art without rules" and that "the enduring things of nature"-- not flux and irrationality-- "are the things meant for the canvas."

From the spiritual side of the discussion the idea first stated by Plato was picked up and expanded in the 18th century. The stress was on the social value of art as a moral agent. Addison in Britain said that "Beauty is God's precaution against our indifference" and that "the pleasures of our imagination should be moralistic, reflective and religious."

Hume who was not religious still stressed the cognitive aspects of the arts and said that "emotion and learned sentiment are the paths by which beauty comes to us" and that taste can be taught and even analyzed. We can sense in these British thinkers the rational and ethical mood of the time. We can recall that the American Constitution was drafted in this era and that it too contains strong universal belief in human progress and social conscience. Beauty like freedom required deep contemplation and widespread knowledge so that its practitioners would be capable of upholding tradition and at the same time expand into new realms of discovery.

The Italian and French aesthetic thinkers paralleled the British thinkers and spoke of "the moral bearing of imagination", the importance of "distanced and tactful judgment" in the practice of art, of "art as a balm for the human spirit", of art and "imagination as distinctly human behavior" separating humankind from the animals, that taste like all forms of knowledge is taught. Diderot for instance said that "beauty is a relation of the inner sense and the mind.

Rousseau at the end of the era tried to break away from the rational mood of the era and said that nature is about feeling not knowledge. But the vast majority of thinkers of the age saw a balance of feeling and thinking reflected in art. In the end it is Aristotle with his balanced views of art who seems to have had the most lasting impact on the 18th century overall.

PART 7- 17th Century AESTHETIC THEORY

The late Renaissance ended with disputes within art criticism. The mystical mood of the Gothic and Renaissance prompted a turn toward rational explanation of arts purposes. Less focus was given to Renaissance ideals of beauty, balance and geometry as a mantle on which to structure artistic design. In the 17th century more stress in art production was placed on secular values, lessons to the taken from a work of art.

With a focus on the social aspects of the arts Plato's cautionary concern that too much freedom in art could be culturally destructive was echoed in the theories of the time. "Reason above imagination" seems to have been the mantra of the era and many pages of scholarly theorizing took place on what art should do for society. The Dutch for instance produced a history of Dutch painting with moral reflections on the key artists in Dutch history.

As one looks at Rembrandt and Vermeer (outstanding examples of 17th century Dutch art) one sees a obvious focus on social themes in their paintings. Rembrandt often quoted the Bible to make moral points in his lush, light-saturated canvases aimed at a discerning ethically aware society. Even his late self-portraits seem to probe into his conscience as if weighing his own moral status.

In general the shift from the Renaissance into the 17th century was away from the vested authority of the church and toward the private conscience of the individual. Art was seen a product of a rational society where individual rights were gaining value. A protestant worldview stressed reason and logic in biblical studies as well as in the arts. The Reformation spirit had much to do with this shift, along with advances in scientific empirical study. It was also an age where great technical breakthroughs were made in painting chemistry with detailed recipes published on: glazing, solvents, varnishes, pigments etc. The most comprehensive of these technical writings were produced by the Dutch masters.

Bill

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.