Theory of Art

It's about time I reformulated my theory of art. Thus far I've been adamant about the death of the artist-- since I cannot know the artist's intentions or any detail of his life, I cannot consider it in my reaction to the work. This is the classic dichotomy of Kant's noumenal and phenomenal worlds, which became important to me with Sartre's existentialism.

Recently I said to a loved one that philosophy was important to me because it made my life, and in particular art, so much more beautiful. The issue now is that my philosophical development, while not linear, is nonetheless a development. It changes; it's dynamic. Furthermore, to appreciate art with the philosophy requires that I know the philosophy before I see the art (excepting, of course, a vivid memory, which for simplicity we assume I don't have). So the philosophy precedes art-- the philosophy precedes the artist as well.

However, this isn't irreconcilable with my previous philosophy of abandoning the artist as a whole; it is, if anything, liberating. The reconciliation, however, will have to take place in the realm of epistemology as a whole-- in particular, the limitation of a single life lived. Art cannot be experienced outside of one's own history of philosophical development, so it is imprecise to assume it away.

My new philosophy is not yet fully molded. I am happy to report, though, that it is a brand new vector I haven't considered.