FUNCTIONS AND PHILOSOPHICAL

PERSPECTIVES ON ART
L E S S O N3
LEARNING OURCOMES

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Distinguish directly functional and indirectly
functional art,
• Explain and discuss the basic philosophical
perspectives on the art,
• Realize the function of some art forms in daily
life, and
• Apply concepts and theories on beauty and
aesthetics in real life scenarios.
 Every particular
substance in the world has
an end, or telos in Greek,
which translates into
“purpose.”

• This telos, according to Aristotle, is

intricately linked with function.
• For a thing to reach its purpose, it
also has to fulfill its function.

Aristotle
FUNCTIONS OF ART
• An inquiry on the function of art is an
inquiry on what art is for.
• Example: What is the Rizal
monument for?
• When it comes to function, different art forms come with
distinctive functions.
• Some art forms are more functional than others.

Architecture and Applied Arts Painting and Literature

• The value of the art in • One can look at the value
question lies in the of the product of art in
practical benefits one and for itself
gains from it
• Obviously made for a
specific purpose
DOES IT MEAN THAT PAINTINGS
AND
LITERARY WORKS CAN NEVER HAVE
ANY FUNCTION?
• Dr. Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibustirismo
• The novels accrued value and as a
consequence, function.
• They are functional in so far as they are
designed to accomplish some definite end.
PERSONAL FUNCTIONS OF ART

• The personal functions of art are varied

and highly subjective.
• Functions depends on the artist who
created the art.
• An artist may create an art out of self-
expression, entertainment, or therapeutic
purpose.
SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF ART
• Art is considered to have a social function if and when
it addresses a particular collective interest as opposed
to a personal interest.
• Art may convey message of protest, contestation,
or whatever message the artist intends his work to
carry.
 SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF ART
• Political art is a very common example of an art with a social
function.
• Art can also depict social conditions such as
photography (pictures of poverty)
• Performance art like plays or satires can also rouse
emotions and rally people toward a particular end.
PHYSICAL FUNCTION OF ART
• The physical functions of art can be found in artworks
that are crafted in order to serve some physical
purpose.
• Architecture, jewelry-making, interior design all
serves physical functions.
OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART

• Music was principally used for dance and

religion.
• The ancient world saw music as an instrument to
facilitate worship and invocation to gods.
• Music was essential for synchronicity of dancers.
• Music guarantees that warriors were
simultaneous.
OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART

• Today, music has expanded its functions and

coverage.
• There is a lot of music that has no connection to
dance or religion.
• Example: Serenade – People compose hymns
to express feelings and emotions.
• Music is also used as accompaniment to stage
plays and motion pictures
OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART

• Sculptures have been made by man most

particularly for religion.
• In the Roman Catholic world, the employment of
sculptures for religious purposes has remained
vital, relevant, and symbolic
• Rizal and Bonifacio’s monument and
commemorative coins (Pope Francis)
OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART

• Architecture may be the most prominent

functional art.
• Unlike other forms of art, buildings take so much
time to erect and destroy.
• One cannot dismiss taking into consideration the
function of a building before construction.
OTHER FUNCTIONS OF ART

• It is also in architecture where one can find

the intimate connection of function and
form.
 DOES ART
ALWAYS HAVE TO
BE FUNCTIONAL?
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES
ON ART
ART AS AN IMITATION

• In Plato’s The Republic, paints a picture of

artists as imitators and art as mere
imitation.

• In his description of the ideal republic,

Plato advises against the inclusion of art
as a subject in the curriculum and the
banning of artists in the Republic.
ART AS AN IMITATION

• In Plato’s metaphysics or view of reality,

the things in this world are only copies of
the original, the eternal, and the true
entities that can only be found in the World
of Forms.
• For example, the chair that one sits on is
not a real chair. It is an imperfect copy
of the perfect “chair” in the World of
Forms.
ART AS AN IMITATION

• Plato was convinced that artists

merely reinforce the belief in copies
and discourage men to reach for the
real entities in the World of Forms.
ART AS AN IMITATION

• Plato was deeply suspicious of arts and

artists for two reasons:
1. They appeal to the emotion rather to the
rational faculty of men
2. They imitate rather than lead one to
reality
ART AS AN IMITATION

• Poetry rouses emotions and feelings and

thus, clouds rationality of people.
• Art is just an imitation of imitation. A
painting is just an imitation of nature,
which is also just an imitation of reality in
the World of Forms.
ART AS AN IMITATION

• Art then is to be banished, alongside the

practitioners, so that the attitudes and actions
of the members of the Republic will not be
corrupted by the influence of the arts.
• For Plato, art is dangerous because it
provides a petty replacement for the real
entities than can only be attained through
reason.
ART AS A REPRESENTATION

• Aristotle, agreed with Plato that art is a form of

imitation.
• However, Aristotle considered art as an aid to
philosophy in revealing the truth.
• The kind of imitation that art does is not
antithetical to the reaching of fundamental truths
in the world.
 ART AS A REPRESENTATION

• Unlike Plato who thought that art is an imitation of

another imitation, Aristotle conceived of art as
representing possible versions of reality.

• For Aristotle, all kinds of art do not aim to represent

reality as it is, it endeavors to provide a version of
what might be or the myriad possibilities of reality.
ART AS A REPRESENTATION

• In Aristotelian worldview, art serves

two particular purposes:
• Art allows for the experience of pleasure
(horrible experience can be made an object of
humor)
• Art also has an ability to be instructive and
teach its audience things about life (cognitive)
ART AS A DISINTERESTED JUDGMENT

• Immanuel Kant, in his Critique of Judgment,

considered the judgment of beauty, the
cornerstone of art, as something that can be
universal despite its subjectivity.
• Kant recognized that judgment of beauty is
subjective.
• However, even subjective judgments are based
on some universal criterion for the said
judgment.
ART AS A DISINTERESTED JUDGMENT

HOW AND IN WHAT SENSE CAN A

JUDGMENT OF BEAUTY, WHICH
ORDINARILY IS CONSIDERED TO
BE A SUBJECTIVE FEELING, BE
CONSIDERED OBJECTIVE OR
UNIVERSAL?
 HOW ARE THESE TWO
STATEMENTS
DIFFERENT?
1. “I like this painting.”

2. “This painting is beautiful.”

• The first is clearly a judgment of taste
(subjective), while the second is an aesthetic
judgment (objective).
• Making an aesthetic judgment requires us to be
disinterested. In other words, we should try to
go beyond our individual tastes and preferences
so that we can appreciate art from a universal
standpoint.
 ART AS A COMMUNICATION
OF EMOTION

• According to Leo Tolstoy, art plays a huge

role in communication to its audience’s
emotions that the artist previously
experienced.
• In the same that language communicates
information to other people, art
communicates emotions.
 ART AS A COMMUNICATION
OF EMOTION

• As a purveyor of man’s innermost feelings and

thoughts, art is given a unique opportunity to
serve as a mechanism for social unity.
• Art is central to man’s existence because it
makes accessible feelings and emotions
of people from the past and present.
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AS
PRECISELY YET AS THOROUGHLY AS
POSSIBLE.
1. What art form/artwork has changed something
in your life? Why Account for the experience.
2. Does art always have a function? Why?
Support your response. Provide your own
example.
3. If an artwork ceased to have a function, will it
remain an art? Why?
 TAKE HOME TASK

• Look around your house and identify a

product of art. In a short bond paper, paste
a picture of that product of art in your
household. Trace the beginning of this
item and identify what functions it has in
history (e.g., a painting of the Last Supper
in your dining room or a spoon).