week8-Art and philosophy producing abolitionists?

Hieronymus Bosch：The Garden of Earthly Delights

Tuyevsky said that "one cannot ascertain one's sanity by confining oneself to one's neighbour"; Foucault mentioned in Madness and Civilisation that "the opposition between reason and madness constitutes a distinctive vector in Western culture". When some people try to use the wasteful work of artistic and philosophical people to compare their own hard work day in and day out, achieving quantifiable KPIs set by others, it may be that art and philosophy do tend to become wasteful and insane people who produce wasteful artworks and say insane things all day long.

However, the value of art and philosophy is not in the amount of wealth accrued directly to the learner, but in the value of the search for truth. The study of art and philosophy teaches us how to detach ourselves from social rules and regulations to perceive life and establish a personal narrative, a personal moral code and an aesthetic standard.

For example, the interplay between artistic elements and rules helps artists to organise artworks that are pleasing to the senses, while also providing a framework for the viewer to analyse and discuss aesthetic ideas.

The word 'philosophy' means 'the love of wisdom'. In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity in which people seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live and their relationship to it and to each other. Those who study philosophy are constantly asking, answering and debating their answers to the most fundamental questions of life.

"One cannot be sure of one's sanity by confining oneself to one's neighbour", said Toevsky; "the opposition between reason and madness constitutes a distinctive vector in Western culture", mentioned by Foucault in Madness and Civilisation. When some people try to compare their hard work day in and day out with the wasteful work of artistic and philosophical people, achieving quantifiable KPIs set by others, it may be that art and philosophy do tend to become wasteful and insane people who produce wasteful artworks and say insane things all day long.

However, the value of art and philosophy is not in the amount of wealth accrued directly to the learner, but in the value of the search for truth. The study of art and philosophy teaches us how to detach ourselves from social rules and regulations to perceive life and establish a personal narrative, a personal moral code and an aesthetic standard.

For example, the interplay between artistic elements and rules helps artists to organise artworks that are pleasing to the senses, while also providing a framework for the viewer to analyse and discuss aesthetic ideas.

The word 'philosophy' means 'the love of wisdom'. In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity in which people seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live and their relationship to it and to each other. Those who study philosophy are constantly asking, answering and debating their answers to the most fundamental questions of life.

I think the abolitionist may simply be a state of life that is at odds with current social values, a state that I prefer to understand as a kind of mild rebellion.