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Single Idea 4174

[filed under theme 21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 6. Value of Art ]

Full Idea

Man is more beautiful than anything else, and the loftiest purpose of art is to reveal his nature.

Gist of Idea

Man is more beautiful than anything else, and the loftiest purpose of art is to reveal his nature

Source

Arthur Schopenhauer (The World as Will and Idea [1819], III 41)

Book Ref

Schopenhauer,Arthur: 'The World as Will and Idea', ed/tr. Berman,Jill and David [Everyman 1995], p.133

A Reaction

A bit of a shock, because it implies human vanity, but it fits the best works of art rather well. What else reveals humanity's beauty? Beautiful deeds must be recorded.

The 14 ideas with the same theme [value of art for individuals and in society]:

2135 Truth is closely related to proportion [Plato]
2163 Artists should be excluded from a law-abiding community, because they destroy the rational mind [Plato]
20394 The purpose of art is to reveal to Spirit its own nature [Hegel, by Davies,S]
21794 The main purpose of art is to express the unity of human life [Hegel]
20415 Art forms a bridge between the sensuous world and the world of pure thought [Hegel]
8116 The will-less contemplation of art brings a liberation from selfhood [Schopenhauer, by Gardner]
4174 Man is more beautiful than anything else, and the loftiest purpose of art is to reveal his nature [Schopenhauer]
7276 All art is quite useless [Wilde]
23933 Aesthetic contemplation is the best and most intense mental state [Bell,C]
23935 Aesthetic experience is an exaltation which increases the possibilities of life [Bell,C]
20406 Art clarifies the artist's mind and feelings, thus leading to self-knowledge [Collingwood, by Davies,S]
20436 Art leads to mental health, and mental clarity [Beardsley,M, by Carroll,N]
22715 Great art proves the absurdity of art for art's sake [Murdoch]
7980 In modern times, being useless is the essential aesthetic ingredient for an object [Baudrillard]