Lesson 3

Functions and
Philosophical
Perspective on Arts
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1.distinguish between directly functional and

indirectly functional art;
2.explain and discuss the basic philosophical
perspectives on the art;
3.realize the function of some art forms in daily
life; and
4.apply concepts and theories on beauty and
aesthetics in real life scenarios.
 Greek philosopher
Aristotle claimed that every
particular substance in the
world has end, of telos in
Greek, which translates
into “purposes”. Every
substance, defined as a
formed matter, moves
according to a fixed path
ARISTOTLE towards its aim.
This telos, according to Aristotle, is intricately
liked with function. For a thing to reach its
purpose, it also has to fulfill its function. Man, in
Aristotle’s view in reality is bound to achieve a
life of fulfillment and happiness, or in Greek,
Eudaimonia.
According to him plants can never be happy
because they are nit rational, as well as tables
and chairs. Man’s natural end, telos, is
connected with his function, which is rationality.
Moreover, the telos and function of a thing are
both related to a thing’s identity.
What makes a table a table is the fact that it
does perform its function and thereby,
reaching its telos.
According to some schools thought, is his
capacity for thinking, his supposed function.
Without this function, he human being ceases
to be a human being. The telos, the function,
and the “whatness” of a thing are all
interconnected.
In contemporary life, the connection between the
end, the function, and the “whatness” of a thing has
become closer and more interlaced, suggesting
sometimes that the end is the function and vice
versa, and that they determine what kind of a thing
is.
Does art necessarily have an end? When an artist
creates a work of art, does he have an end in mind?
What function does an artwork perform? Does it
have any purposes? Do all artworks have a
function? Does have the function make an object a
work if art?
Functions of Art
 An inquiry on the function of art is an inquiry on what art is
for. Alternatively, the answer to the question “what is it for” is
the function or whatever “it” in the question refers to:

What is the monument of Rizal for? Why was it erected

in Rizal Park or what was called Luneta/Bagumbayan?

 The function has a different art forms come with distinctive

functions. There is no one-to-one correspondence between an
art and its function. Some art forms are more functional than
others.
Example: Building, as a work of art is obviously made for a
specific purpose. Also, jewelry-making as an art is known by its
product. The function is so important that is usurped the name of
the art on the identification of individual works (Dudley et al, 1960).
Other Examples are painting, poems, and statues.

Taj Mahal Jewelry making in Malaysia

 STATUE

PAINTING

POEM
Roughly and broadly, the functions
of an art are classified into three (3):
o Personal (public display or
expression)
o Social (celebration or to effect
collective behavior)
o Physical (utilitarian)
Personal Functions of Art
 Are varied and highly subjective. This means
that its functions depend on the person-the
artist who created the art.
 An artist may create an art out of the need for
self-expression. This is the case for an artist
who needs to communicate an idea to his
audience and also be more entertainment for
his intended audience.
An art may also be therapeutic.
In some orphanages and home
for abandoned elders, art is
used to help residents process
their emotions or while away
their time. Recently the use of
adult coloring books to de-
stress has been apparent too,
now with a lot of designs being
scold in bookstores
nationwide. These all fall under
personal functions of art.
 Example of Personal Functions of Art
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Edvard Munch “Anxiety” 1712-1718
1864-1944 Philosopher
Pioneer of the expressionist movement Never exceed your rights, and they will
become unlimited
Social Functions of Art
Art is considered to have social
function if and when it addresses a
particular collective interest as
opposed to a personal interest.
Art may convey message of protest,
contestation, or whatever message
the artist intends his work to carry.
Example: Political Art, Photography,
Picture of Poverty and Performance Art

Political Art Photography

Physical Function of Art
Is the easiest to spot and
understand.
can be found in artworks that
are crafted in order to serve
some physical purposes.
Example: Japanese Raku Bowl, Architecture
Jewelry making and Interior Design
Other Functions
of Art
o Music

 Music in its original form was principally functional, was

used for dance and religion. It is used as an instrument to
facilitate worship and invocation to gods (in Ancient World).
Also, it was essential to dance because it assures
synchronicity among dancers. Music also guarantees that
marches in the case of warriors were simultaneous.

Example: Serenades
Music also used as wonderful accompaniment to stage
plays and motion picture.
o Sculpture

 Sculptures have been made by man most particularly for

religion. The employment of sculptures in the Roman
Catholic world remained vital, relevant, and symbolic. Also
it commemorates important figures in history.

Example: Jose Rizal’s monument in Rizal Park,

Andres Bonifacio’s Monumento in Caloocan and
Pope Francis and the Jesuit, Horacio de la Costa
commemorative coin
o Architecture

 Architecture is the most prominent functional art form. It is also

in architecture where one can find the intimate connection of
function and form. In planning out a architectural structure,
there are two conditions that must be considered:

• Natural Conditions
• Social Conditions

Examples: Pyramids of Giza, The Acropolis, The Great Cathedrals

of the Middle Ages and The Spanish Colonial Houses in the
Philippines
Does Art Always Have to be Functional?
 The value of art does not depend on functions
but on the work itself cannot be claimed to be
beautiful unless it can perform its functions
sufficiently. Adequate performance of function
partly determines the beauty of a design in
these functional art forms. An efficient
functional object is not necessarily beautiful.
Art demands so much more than efficiency.
Philosophical
Perspective on
Art
Art as an  Plato (200) in his masterpiece, The Republic,
particularly paints a picture of artists as imitators and

Imitation
art as mere imitation. In his description of ideal
republic, Plato advises against the inclusion of art as
a subject in the curriculum and the banning of artist
in the Philippines.
 In Plato’s metaphysics or of the original, the eternal,
and the true entitles that can only be found in the
World of Forms. Human beings endeavor to reach the
Forms all throughout this life, starting with formal
education in school. From looking at “shadows in the
cave,” men slowly crawl outside to behold the real
entitles in the world.
 Plato was deeply suspicious of arts and artist for two
reasons:
 They appeal to the emotion rather than to the rational
faculty of men and;
 They imitate rather than lead one to reality
PLATO
 Poetry and painting, the art forms that Plato was particularly concerned
with, do not have any place in the ideal state that Socrates (as the
protagonist) in Plato’s dialogue envisions.
 First, Plato is critical of the effects of art, specifically, poetry to the
people of the ideal state. Poetry rouses emotions and feelings and thus,
clouds the rationality of people.
 Poetry has a capacity to swap minds without taking into consideration
the use of proper reason. As such, it leads further away from the
cultivation of the intellect that Plato campaigned for.
 The arts then are the to be banished, alongside the practitioners, so that
the attitudes and actions of the members of the Republic will not be
corrupted by the influence of arts.
 For Plato, art is dangerous because it provides a pretty replacement for
the real entitles that can be only be attained through reason.
Art as a Representation
 Taking about tragedies, for example, Aristotle (1902) in the Poetics
claimed that poetry is a literary representation in general. Akin to other art
forms, poetry only admits of an attempt to represent what things might
be.
 For Aristotle, all kinds of art, including poetry, music, dance, painting, and
sculpture, do not aim to represent reality as it is. Unlike Plato who
thought that art is an imitation of another imitation, Aristotle conceived of
art as a representing possible versions of reality.
 In the Aristotelian worldview, art serves two particular purposes:
 First, art allows for the experience of pleasure. Experiences that are
otherwise repugnant can become entertaining in art.
 Secondly, art also has an ability to be instructive and teach its audience
things about life; thus, it is cognitive as well. Greek plays usually of this
nature.
Art as a  In the third critique that Immanuel Kant wrote, the “Critique
of Judgment,” Kant considered the judgement of beauty, the
cornerstone of art, as something that can be universal its

Disinterested subjectivity.
 Kant mentioned that judgment of beauty, and therefore, art,

Judgment
is innately autonomous from specific interests. It is the form
of art that is adjudged by one who perceives art to be
beautiful or more so, sublime. Therefore, even aesthetic
judgment for Kant is a cognitive activity.
 There is something in the work of art that makes it capable
of inciting in the same feeling of pleasure and satisfaction
from any perceiver, regardless of his condition.
 For Kant, every human being, after perception and the free
play of his faculties, should recognize the beauty that is
inherent in the work of art. This is the kind of universality
that a judgment of beauty is assumed by Kant to have.
 So when the same person says that something is beautiful,
he does not just believe that the thing beautiful for him, but
in a sense, expects that the same thing should put everyone
in awe.
Immanuel Kant
Art as a  Art plays a huge role in communication
to its audience’s emotions that the artist

Communication as a language,
previously experienced. Art then serves

of Emotion
 A communication device that
articulates feelings and emotion that
are otherwise unavailable to the
audience.
 In the same way that language communicates
information to the other people, art communicates
emotions. In listening to music, in watching an
opera, and in reading poems, the audience is at
the receiving end of the artist communicating his
feelings and emotions.
 Art is central, from one continent to another. In
making these possibly latent feelings and
emotions accessible to anyone in varied time and
location, Art serves an a mechanism of cohesion
Cambodia’s Angkor Wat for everyone.
ASSESSMENT:
Explain the following in separate sheet of paper:

1. Why is art ageless and timeless?

2. Why is art not nature?
3. Why does art involves experience?
4. What is your personal philosophical
perspective on art? Explain.
THANK YOU!