FUNCTIONS AND PHILOSOPHICAL

PERSPECTIVES OF THE ARTS

LEARNING OUTCOMES

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.
• Aristotle claimed that every
particular substance in the
world has an end, or telos in
Greek, which translates into
“purpose.”
• Every substance, defined as
formed matter, moves
according to a fixed path
towards its aim.

• This telos, according to Aristotle, is intricately linked

with function.
• For a thing to reach its purpose, it also has to fulfill its
function.
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 question lies • One can look at the value of the
in the practical benefits one gains product of art in and for itself.
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 Filibusterismo.
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• 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
• Poetry rouses emotions and feelings and thus, clouds
rationality of people.
• Art is just an imitation of imitation.
 ART AS AN IMITATION

• A painting is just an imitation of nature, which is also just an

imitation of reality in the World of Forms.
• 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.
• Aristotle, agreed with Plato that art is a form of
imitation.
 ART AS A REPRESENTATION

• 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.
• Unlike Plato who thought that art is an imitation of another
imitation, Aristotle conceived of art as representing possible
versions of reality.
 ART AS A REPRESENTATION

• 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.
• In Aristotelian worldview, art serves two particular
purposes:
o Art allows for the experience of pleasure (horrible
experience can be made an object of humor)
o 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.

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.
• 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).