PHILOS 2H03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Fine Art, Mimesis, Techne
Document Summary
Two themes in ancient thought concerning the arts: mimesis art imitates nature, effect on character, art as an ethical problem. Symposium was about beauty, no talk about fine arts: republic is the opposite. Mimesis: what goes in fine art is imitation of nature. Art effe(cid:272)ts (cid:272)hara(cid:272)ter, does(cid:374)"t lea(cid:448)e the(cid:373) u(cid:374)tou(cid:272)hed. Techne: art, craft, productive knowledge: there is difference, two categories. Painters, poets, sculptors produces images of things. Fine art today has a lot to do with imitation. Metaphysics, philosophical theory of being or reality: to be, is to be an idea the step plato took. Idea: ideal form: form that is perfect, hence never encountered by body. Understanding and mind appreciates, not for senses. Sights, smells are not ideas, they are the appearance of ideas, but unreliable copies of ideas. Idea is intelligible, per(cid:272)ei(cid:448)a(cid:271)le, (cid:271)ut (cid:272)a(cid:374)"t (cid:271)e tou(cid:272)hed. It is the form that is respected for every type of thing.