The Philosophy of Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Philosophy of Art - Essay Example This is where aesthetics sets in as a form of science. As John Keats most famously said â€Å"Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all Ye know on earth, and all you need to know† 1 Aesthetics is not an exact science. The term emerged in Eighteenth Century to describe a number of various things and contemplates various theories that pertain to the conception of judgment in terms of artworks and all other objects it encompasses. It is a value and an experience concurrently or simultaneously. In the process, aesthetics is often regarded coinciding with the concept of taste. During the early years of aesthetics, beauty is something instantaneously judge for. This is best perceived in the rationalization of beauty that we experience regularly.2 This is something that is apparent from a day to day basis. It is determined by a number of things as taste may be varied from person to person but there is always that sense of uniformity in the general population of what is beautiful a nd what is not. From being delineated to the definition of the philosophy of art, subsequent years yielded focus on its value and experience in relation to the aesthetic attitudes. As a subject, Aesthetics is very vast and covers many aspects. The philosopher Immanuel Kant was the first to give a more thorough discussion of what the philosophy of art is. Kant primarily regards that the content is not the main interest of aesthetics and this is equated as a formalist point of view. Art is impure because it has concept and that even in nature it is only through our cognitive ability that we are able to enjoy parts and pieces of it and thus this is freedom. But Kant is quick to add that not every piece of art contains this. This theory of pure beauty contains four aspects; 1. it contains no concept, 2. it is objective, 3. the spectator’s disinterest and, 4. it is obligatory.3 The basic concept in the need for art is the pleasure that is derived from beauty. This is ultimately wh at we know as aesthetic pleasure. â€Å"Kant locates aesthetic judgment halfway between the logically necessary (an example would be mathematical theorems) and the purely subjective (expressions of personal taste).†4 For example, the opinion that something is beautiful as personally perceived by a person is essentially a subjective point of view based on that person’s cognitive sense of what is actually beautiful. Yet it is concomitantly not subjective because the delight derived from it has reason to be the same way with somebody else. If someone sees something beautiful and takes pleasure from, then, shares this with another person is the full circle of the philosophy of art. Beauty does not end in its mere existence, the same must be appreciated and this begins with subjectivity. Another important aspect of art is the emotion that goes along with it. Many regard that this is the most important part of art and what makes it a truly human experience. It is the way tha t a piece of art makes an impact in its audience that determined whether or not it has achieved what it is meant to be able to do. Pleasure which is the most basic explanation for the existence of art is called ‘expressivism.’ This theory, which is applicable in all art media exemplifies the value of feelings as invested in the artwork by its creator. Leo Tolstoy, among the best novelist of all time, theorizes that

Japanese Education System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Japanese Education System - Essay Example It is also important that educational reformers and governments understand the difference between what has been good in the education of Japan and what can be termed as self defeating. To understand the difference better, given below is an understanding of the Japanese form of education and the various ideals that shape it. The Japanese system of education While official education in Japan begins from the first standard up till the ninth standard , unofficially preschool is an important part of education too. A vast majority of Japanese children attend preschool after which the official education framework provides for free and compulsory schooling from grade one to grade nine. The syllabus is balanced, extensive and covers varied subjects like mathematics, sciences, social sciences and languages. Grades ten to twelve are known as upper secondary school. Though these grades are not compulsory, 94% of students do complete lower secondary schooling. One third of the students from upper secondary go into post graduate studies where universities offer complete four-year education and junior colleges offer two-years of education. Women’s education is also given equal importance and opportunities are rendered to women through special universities or co-educational institutions. Japan’s educational ideals The Japanese system of education has been influenced by various factors and ideals through its history, from the ancient, to the medieval and modern times. Even though foreign ideas have influenced the education system at times, and have rendered Western ideas of liberalization, it has gone back to its age old ideals. After the period of Meiji Restoration, study missions were sent to US, France and Russia and a national education system based on Western ideas was established. However, in a little while, some Western ideas like individualism were found unsuitable (Beauchamp, 1985) and soon most of traditional Japanese education was restored. What remained about the foreign influence was just the structure of grade school, junior high and high school. Coeducation and compulsory education up till the age of 15 were also retained. Japanese tradition gives importance to respect for society, team goals and hard work, factors that reflect in its education system as well. Academic excellence is stressed upon and statistics reveal that Japanese school children, begin to earnestly study right from kindergarten. The society of Japan is highly education-minded, disciplined, and morally inclined. While such a system has its benefits, over the years these ideals of education have had their negative impacts too. Here is a critical examination of the educational ideals that shape Japan and the benefits and ill effects the system has had on individuals and the society at large. Academic achievements Academic achievements are an important ideal in Japanese education. Students work hard to score well starting from the stage of kindergarten onwards. From childhood, students have to constantly cope up with learning, memorizing and passing examinations, a necessary prerequisite for admissions into college to pursue higher education. In many cases where student miss classes due to illness, parents take notes of lessons missed in class. Parents take serious part in parent-teacher meetings and also send their children to private tuitions2 so that they can score well in studies. A student's competence is tested in competitive college examinations, where high grades are vital