Art and Beauty of Human Society - Essay Example

The author indicated that the 18th century witnessed the development of wild romanticism in art and literature that enabled appreciation of a significant aesthetic notion, ‘Sublimity.’ In addition, Burke showed a closer connection of sublimity with pain, rather than pleasure due to consideration of horrific and gloomy representations by artists
In the year 1959, Frank Sibley proposed a different perspective regarding aesthetical concepts saying that these concepts do not depend on any rules or conditions; however, perceptions play a crucial role in the judgment or appreciation of the artwork. Subsequently, the article discussed two types of aesthetic concepts: closed concepts and open concepts, where closed concepts come along with some conditions and open concepts enjoy no conditions attached. Lastly, the Author indicated that although several theorists and scholars have proposed various definitions of art; however, all of them fall into one of the three categories: representation, expression, and form.

Summary
For centuries, art and beauty remained some of the influential and significant notions of human society that inspired individuals to develop an aesthetical understanding of existing, as well as non-existing objects. However, particular studies focusing on aesthetics began in the early 18th century as theorists and philosophers proposed their theories of harmony, art, music, etc. In such efforts, Immanuel Kant has been prominent as several theorists used Kantian thoughts as their basis. In brief, Kant proposed that the inclusion of concepts and perceptions into art causes impurity in artworks, and thus, objectivity or universality is essential for purity in the artwork.
The author of this article has specifically conversed about different aesthetic concepts that existed since the eighteenth century in this sub-topic of ‘Aesthetic Concepts’ in his article, ‘Aesthetics’ (Slater, 2005). In this regard, the author indicated that the 18th century witnessed the development of wild romanticism in art and literature that enabled appreciation of a significant aesthetic notion, ‘Sublimity.’ To validate his point, the author has indicated the usage of similar terms in Edmund Burke’s book in which, Burke showed the closer connection of sublimity with pain, rather than pleasure due to consideration of horrific and gloomy representations by artists during that period. For example, artworks of that period included ‘lonely moors’ (Slater, 2005) and remarkable passions that were more into pain than enjoyment.
Subsequently, the author indicated two specific terms ‘beautiful’ and ‘sublime’ that are the best representations of human aesthetical experiences. Besides the two terms, the author of the article pointed out different other terms, such as ugly, lovely, fine, superb, etc that can also describe human aesthetics. In the year 1959, Frank Sibley proposed a different perspective regarding aesthetical concepts saying that these concepts do not depend on any rules or conditions; however, perceptions play a crucial role in the judgment or appreciation of the artwork. The author of the article discussed that Sibley’s explanation had one more aspect that related aesthetic experiences to the emotional and cognitive aspects of individuals. For this purpose, Sibley introduced some other terms, such as joyful, serene, humble, etc (Slater, 2005) to describe aesthetical concepts, but more inclined towards emotional and mental states.
Subsequently, the article discussed two types of aesthetic concepts: closed concepts and open concepts, where closed concepts come along with some conditions and open concepts enjoy no conditions attached. The author ended this sub-topic with a query regarding the possibility of aesthetic judgments without conditions and indicated that Sibley termed aesthetic concepts as metaphors in absence of enough conditions (Slater, 2005).
Besides aesthetical concepts, the author of this article has attempted to discuss different definitions of art. In specific, the author indicated that although several theorists and scholars have proposed various definitions of art; however, all of them fall into one of the three categories: representation, expression, and form.

Later, art emerged as expression, as many experts like John Hospers, R. G. Collingwood, etc (Slater, 2005) termed art as a way of expression by artists. Lastly, the 20th century brought the notion of abstraction and appreciation of different forms of art, and that is how aesthetics have studied art and beauty in different centuries. Read More