Video Blog

1. Many different philosophers views on aesthetics were discussed in this film. Plato's view as art being imperfect copies of ideas of reality, Aristotle's Poetics, and the idea of pity and fear; Hutchinson's theory of beauty, order, harmony and design; Kant's appreciation for the genius of the artist; Sheiler's idea that art gives us more humane, moral capacity, and many more. Art is the expression of emotion, in so many words. There has been an explosion of excitement about aesthetics in the 20th century. How the use of language ties into art. There are no necessary conditions to qualify something as art. One's inner sense of beauty determines the aesthetic view. Art is not necessarily beautiful. The second films discusses what Changeux and Ramachandran view as artChangeux discusses the way that art is a science and how it is connected to our brain's activity. He also defines aesthetics from a scientific perception. Ramachandran discusses how our brain's interpretation of art and the world around us has developed over history and throughout our lives.
2.The German philosopher, Alexander Baumgarten, who introduced the term aesthetics had the most important theory because it was the first theory. He came up with the term in the early 1700's, which led to a snowball affect. Now, people not only realize the impact of a visual perception on our emotions but it has become a major focus in the art world. Although people may have known before that there is an emotional connection with artwork, Baumgarten made it a main focal point when discussing art.
3. I think it was really interesting how Changeux really broke down art like it was a science, and is something that can be defined. Other philosophers discussed art as something that is not defined. He discusses art that has been discovered through history and really makes it such as discovering dinosaur bones or something! The scientific processing of visual images is really interesting as well. I like how Ramachandran discusses how elements such as symmetry can have a neurological effect. Also how beauty registers in our brain and how that may change over time.
4. The videos relate to the readings in the text by discussing aesthetics in more depth.  It discusses the history of the formation for the theory of aesthetics, from many different philosophers that the text does not make mention of.  Each philosopher's view helped to shape the theory of aesthetics.  The videos discuss the idea of aesthetics being and inner sense of beauty tied to a feeling about what we are viewing. The idea that beauty and art do no necessarily go hand in hand began to develop and is now full fledge today. Art is all around us, from music to television to ordinary objects. All of these idea's about beauty, aesthetics and art have also been discussed in the text. The neurological perspective of art gives all of this studying about art a biological connection and importance in the life of humans.
5. I feel that the videos put more history to the world of aesthetics by discussing many different eras, parts of the world, and intelligent people who had a piece in shaping our understanding of aesthetics today. It gives an in depth understanding for the connection of beauty and aesthetics in the art world. Also, how we know what is art, even though some of it may not be 'beautiful'. It gives an interesting twist by putting art in neurological terms and making a biological connection. I feel that this gives an actual need for art in our lives. It helps to understand how something is viewed as beautiful from a neurological sense.