2. Which philosopher's theroy on aesthetics do you feel is most important? Be sure to mention the philosphers name, era (time in history), and contribtion to the aesthetic theory in your response.
3. What do you think about Changeux and Ramachandran scientific view of aesthetics and art? What was the most interesting fact you discovered from each speakers lecture?
4. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?
5. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics in your reading?
2) (Coming from my forum post answer) I believe Plato's theory on aesthetics is most important. (5th
century Athens). This idea is about what we see, that ideas are beyond our
senses. He believed the manifestication of something beautful attracts a
person. His theory did not take in the account of art in aesthetics. He
focused more on the beauty. Aristotole focused more on tragedy, and
rules of beauty: order, symmetry and definiteness. He came up with the
three unities. I don't believe something beautiful needs orders or
proportions and that is why I do not think Aristotole's foundation of
aesthetics is important.
3) I thought Changeux's points were very interesting when he discussed the scientific views of aesthetic and art. He based everything on the human brain and studies. The most interesting fact I found in his lecture is when he talked about empathy and how he concludes that art makes us aware of oneself as another.
Right from the start Ramachandran caught my attention because he had more life into his lecture. The first point he was making I thought was the most interesting fact that popped out at me. He started off by showing the sculpture of the women and how some historians hated it because it was so disproportionate to a realistic woman. He then went on by saying art isn't supposed to be real, that it's supposed to exaggerate in a sense of a hyperbole to produce pleasing effects in the human brain.
4) The videos add more in depth information about the topics in out texts. We learned about aesthetics in both videos and we read about what the artist is trying to say though themes and creativity. In the videos the information covered that the brain wants excitement and to see beauty to pleasure their senses which is another explanation that wasn't as covered in our text.
5) The videos are a good alternative way to teach the class, especially because the lectures make up the time of a class as if we were really meeting on campus. My opinion though is that it takes a huge chunk out of the day to watch them on top of our other classwork (sorry but just being honest!!). However, I did love Changeux's accent!!! They add depth to me because I get to hear someone further explain the topics we are learning instead of me just reading and only getting an explanation that is written in the book. This helps because the videos can be more interesting than just sitting at a desk reading my book. It was more interesting watching about how looking at some paintings and figuring out the picture is considered problem solving and our brain feels rewarded when we figure out the object! It's better explained through spoken words than written words.
