1.) Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts Video
-Artists copy a copy, which means they look at something then copy it into paintings, drawings, etc
-Plato mistrusted poets, he believed they wrote about what they didn't really know
-Plato and Aristotle write "The Poets" which is a book
-Plays have beginning, middle, and end which can be short or long, or written good or poor
-Aristotle discussed the idea of tragedy
-Idea of Beauty was overwhelmed by the idea of God
-The viewer has to be knowledgeable of aesthetics in order for it to occur
-Art makes us more human
-If art is appreciated, it has good effects
CNN Reading:
-If there was no "lie" of art there wouldn't be any galleries
-We recognize familiar things in art and art can be pleasing to the brain
-Brain is wired so we make sense of lines, colors and patterns
-Our minds immediately recognize things like people, animals, plants, and places
-Line drawings were done in the Stone Age and by the Egyptians
-Most paintings are two dimensional
-We've been fooled by people looking into mirrors or birds reflected in ponds
-We like symmetry because it looks like living things
-Neuroesthenics is the neutral basis of why and how people appreciate art and music
CARTA Video:
-Discovery of tools 2.5 million years ago, discovery of symmetry 1.5 million years ago, discovery of symbolism 300000 years ago, discovery of artistic composition 100000 years ago
-The works of art is articts and human productions
-Art is non verbal communication of emotional states
-Esthetic efficacy: staggering effects on emotion and reason
-CARTA, a research program, founded on the conviction of answers gotten from different sciences
-The study of human origins has a major impact on issues related to medicine
-The human brain: a synthesis of multiple nested evolutionary processes
-Eight laws of aesthetics: grouping, peak shift principle, contrast, attention, problem solving, symmetry, art as a metaphor, unique vantage points and suspicious coincidences
2.) The philosopher's theory on aesthetics that is most important is Plato of the 4th century B.C. Plato says, "There is a beauty by which all things are beautiful." I think this has a powerful meaning. Plato wrote about what he saw at the time as beauty. Plato is a know person even it you don't know much about art, you have probably heard of him before watching the video. Plato knew how to tell the difference between reality and illusion. Plato had said that poetry is art as well. He contributed to aesthetics because of his belief of beauty of art.
3.) Changeux and Ramachandran shared their beliefs on art and aesthetics. Changeux told facts about different discoveries. Some of these discoveries was the discovery of tools which was 2.5 million years ago and the discovery of symmetry was 1.5 million years ago. Thinking about how long ago these discoveries were made is amazing. It's crazy to think how long art has been around and how many new discoveries are made. Also, the way in which art changes throughout time. Ramachandran talked about how the brain responds to art. It was interesting to seem the way the brain works. He said there is more in the definition of art than just landscapes. Art quotes people. The most interesting fact I found from each lecture was that the human brain is a synthesis of multiple nested evolutionary processes and that art is a non verbal communication of emotional states.
4.) The videos and the article relate to the reading in the book because they all talk about aesthetics. I think the book gives more examples than the videos and the article. I think that the article was the most interesting one of the book and the videos. It was an easy read and I found myself more interested in the way the author wrote it.
5.) I personally liked the reading more. I felt this to be more interesting and more enjoyable. Even though the article was shorter than the videos, I feel like I got more from it because I was able to read at my own pace rather than listen to someone speak. I would have to go back in the videos and pause the videos to write down certain information. I would rather read something in most cases, than listen to something. I think that the films and reading all tie together in our reading in the book. I think that the book gives more examples though, which makes seeing the points the author is trying to make, more clear.
