What Is Art Good For? The Socio-Epistemic Value of Art
Scientists, humanists, and art lovers alike value art not just for its beauty, but also for its social and epistemic importance; that is, for its communicative nature, its capacity to increase one's self-knowledge and encourage personal growth, and its ability to challenge our schemas and preco...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00411/full |
| _version_ | 1818579493583847424 |
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| author | Aleksandra Sherman Clair Morrissey |
| author_facet | Aleksandra Sherman Clair Morrissey |
| author_sort | Aleksandra Sherman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Scientists, humanists, and art lovers alike value art not just for its beauty, but also for its social and epistemic importance; that is, for its communicative nature, its capacity to increase one's self-knowledge and encourage personal growth, and its ability to challenge our schemas and preconceptions. However, empirical research tends to discount the importance of such social and epistemic outcomes of art engagement, instead focusing on individuals' preferences, judgments of beauty, pleasure, or other emotional appraisals as the primary outcomes of art appreciation. Here, we argue that a systematic neuroscientific study of art appreciation must move beyond understanding aesthetics alone, and toward investigating the social importance of art appreciation. We make our argument for such a shift in focus first, by situating art appreciation as an active social practice. We follow by reviewing the available psychological and cognitive neuroscientific evidence that art appreciation cultivates socio-epistemic skills such as self- and other-understanding, and discuss philosophical frameworks which suggest a more comprehensive empirical investigation. Finally, we argue that focusing on the socio-epistemic values of art engagement highlights the important role art plays in our lives. Empirical research on art appreciation can thus be used to show that engagement with art has specific social and personal value, the cultivation of which is important to us as individuals, and as communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:02:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-72105d047e0c47fbb1c3e27fa3930111 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T07:02:35Z |
| publishDate | 2017-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-72105d047e0c47fbb1c3e27fa39301112022-12-21T22:40:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612017-08-011110.3389/fnhum.2017.00411281994What Is Art Good For? The Socio-Epistemic Value of ArtAleksandra Sherman0Clair Morrissey1Department of Cognitive Science, Occidental CollegeLos Angeles, CA, United StatesDepartment of Philosophy, Occidental CollegeLos Angeles, CA, United StatesScientists, humanists, and art lovers alike value art not just for its beauty, but also for its social and epistemic importance; that is, for its communicative nature, its capacity to increase one's self-knowledge and encourage personal growth, and its ability to challenge our schemas and preconceptions. However, empirical research tends to discount the importance of such social and epistemic outcomes of art engagement, instead focusing on individuals' preferences, judgments of beauty, pleasure, or other emotional appraisals as the primary outcomes of art appreciation. Here, we argue that a systematic neuroscientific study of art appreciation must move beyond understanding aesthetics alone, and toward investigating the social importance of art appreciation. We make our argument for such a shift in focus first, by situating art appreciation as an active social practice. We follow by reviewing the available psychological and cognitive neuroscientific evidence that art appreciation cultivates socio-epistemic skills such as self- and other-understanding, and discuss philosophical frameworks which suggest a more comprehensive empirical investigation. Finally, we argue that focusing on the socio-epistemic values of art engagement highlights the important role art plays in our lives. Empirical research on art appreciation can thus be used to show that engagement with art has specific social and personal value, the cultivation of which is important to us as individuals, and as communities.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00411/fullempirical aestheticsneuroaestheticsart appreciationart as social practiceself-understandingother-understanding |
| spellingShingle | Aleksandra Sherman Clair Morrissey What Is Art Good For? The Socio-Epistemic Value of Art Frontiers in Human Neuroscience empirical aesthetics neuroaesthetics art appreciation art as social practice self-understanding other-understanding |
| title | What Is Art Good For? The Socio-Epistemic Value of Art |
| title_full | What Is Art Good For? The Socio-Epistemic Value of Art |
| title_fullStr | What Is Art Good For? The Socio-Epistemic Value of Art |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Is Art Good For? The Socio-Epistemic Value of Art |
| title_short | What Is Art Good For? The Socio-Epistemic Value of Art |
| title_sort | what is art good for the socio epistemic value of art |
| topic | empirical aesthetics neuroaesthetics art appreciation art as social practice self-understanding other-understanding |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00411/full |
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