One question on the final exam for my Philosophy of Art course asked students to identify the best or worst theorist of art we studied this semester. We devoted significant time to five major philosophers — Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Nietzsche, and Rand — and discussed a few others along the way more briefly. In deciding […]
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Jumping into the debate about “bleeding-heart libertarianism” (Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi, Bryan Caplan and again, David Friedman, David Henderson, and others), which seeks to integrate libertarianism with social justice. “Social justice” is one of those vaguely-specified, usually suspect phrases, defined by one defender of BHL as the position that “the moral justification of our
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How Art became Ugly 2019 lecture in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Kant’s Philosophy and Modernist Art 2023 interview in Norway, with Jan-Ove Tuv. The Next Revolution in Art My 2015 lecture in Hong Kong. Translation into Cantonese. Why Art Became Ugly Article first published in Navigator (Volume 7, Number 7), September 2004.Translations: German [pdf], Korean [pdf],
Khafre-2520-2494-BCE: Menkaure and Khamerernebty, 2490-2472 BCE: Hatshepsut-1473-1458-BCE: Rameses II c. 1303-1213 BCE: Mentuemhet, 650 BCE: [Return to the Art Images page.]
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In my Philosophy of Art course, we are discussing Plato’s philosophy of art, by means of selections from Statesman and Books 3 and 10 of The Republic, along with snippets from Ion, Phaedrus, and Symposium. In The Republic, Plato makes a systematic case for censoring all arts. The task of the Platonic philosopher is to
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Ingres — Grande Odalisque, 1814 Watch artist Michael Newberry’s commentary on Grande Odalisque. Eugène Delacroix — Odalisque, 1825 Watch artist Michael Newberry’s commentary on Odalisque. Delacroix — Liberty Leading the People, 1830 Watch artist Michael Newberry’s commentary on Liberty Leading the People. Vincent Van Gogh — Shoes, 1886 Watch artist Michael Newberry’s commentary on Shoes.
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Pieter Saenredam (1597-1665), Haarlem Bavokerk Rembrandt — Self-Portrait, 1629 Watch artist Michael Newberry’s commentary on Rembrandt’s self-portrait. Rembrandt — The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, 1632 Watch artist Michael Newberry’s commentary on the Anatomy Lesson. Rembrandt — Danae, 1636 Watch artist Michael Newberry’s commentary on Danae. Vermeer — The Milkmaid, 1658 Watch artist Michael
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Masaccio, Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, 1425 Watch artist Michael Newberry’s commentary on Expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Watch architect John Gillis’s commentary on Expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Uccello, The Battle of San Romano, 1435-1460 Watch artist Michael Newberry’s commentary on The Battle of San Romano. Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel, c. 1461
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Related: “Why Art Became Ugly” Navigator (Volume 7, Number 7), September 2004. Also available in German [pdf], Korean [pdf], and Spanish translations. [Go to the Art Images page.]
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