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Rl's avatar

Q2: Because, like it or not, we are all formed by the society in which we live, societies always frame and limit our worldviews. One simple example: Ws can not think or imagine in a language we do not know. Even those who fundamentally reject current social norms must do so within the social framework in which they live.

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Teodoro Vlaminck's avatar

What is the relationship between art and truth?

If we take a look at renaissance art we can see how geometry and perspective start to play a big role, thus making truth (the careful and observed representation of natural reality) a fundamental aspect of art. Of course this is not to say that all art follows the same fundamentals as the renaissance artists did.

This is why I believe a lot of people dislike more contemporary works which don’t necessarily adhere to anatomy, science or mathematical laws whatsoever.

However… some philosophers debate that truth is entirely subjective, making my previous argument outdated 🤷‍♂️

I know I didn’t really answer the question for my knowledge is limited.

But what do you think? 🤔

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Epsilon's avatar

I like your explanations of why a lot of people don't like modern art. In contrast, there are people (like me) who like modern art because it contains personal ideas of describing the world

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Teodoro Vlaminck's avatar

How does society's perception of usefulness shape the pursuit of knowledge? Perhaps if we take a look at the most studied or sought after careers throughout history we can see that the pursuit of knowledge (defined by what people tend to study) is heavily influenced by what the market defines as “useful”.

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Teodoro Vlaminck's avatar

Here my definition of pursuit of knowledge is of course limited… you can always strive to learn something outside of your career and it is most likely that you will.

But I believe it’s generally true that we chose to learn a specific field of knowledge if we believe we will profit from its usefulness rather than personal fulfillment.

Society mocks people who study art while it praises those who study engineering or medicine. It is rather sad but true.

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Spiritual Entertainer's avatar

Art is generally the door way to the human soul.

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Rl's avatar

Beautiful phrase, perfect image: “wrap yourself in ignorance.”

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Epsilon's avatar

Healing is a personal experience. Different people may find different things to be useful. Poetry is on the recipe, so does music, nature, pictures, movies, food ...

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J Callender Photography's avatar

Q #3 makes me wonder about making a distinction between the "truth" of getting started vs. the "truth" of any outcomes.

What is true about getting started in the most potentially fruitful way vs. what we perceive as being true once we have achieved an outcome?

Art forces us to start from a more curious and creative space in order to bring about a vision or idea. Much of our life systems seem to start from already having an outcome in mind before we even think about becoming curious or creative about what we face.

If our experience has only ever started us off from a set of conventional wisdom of a single way of doing something, how much truth can ever be in that?

Which might also pull in the usefulness question...

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Emma Harris's avatar

I'm not sure I can think of a single example of something you could "know" that wouldn't in some way be useful. Knowledge describes reality, and if it's part of reality, then it would be "useful." The study of things will, of course, be influenced by "trends" but that's just how things go.

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Josh Dean's avatar

The relationship between art and truth is relative to what people believe is true. What is even art?

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