Question 1

Both Plato and Aristotle understood beauty as an objective and not subjective reality.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  True

Question 2

Confucius believed that music appreciation is conducive to virtue because from the harmonious interplay among voices,we learn how to construct harmony more generally in our lives.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  True

Question 3

Kant and Schopenhauer believed that humor depended on activating a priori structures of funniness within the mind.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  False

Question 4

One implication of Plato's view of beauty is that artists should be socially responsible when they produce works of art.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

According to Aristotle,what made Oedipus Rex and Medea great works of art was

Accepted Answer

A)  their expression of the transcendent form of beauty. 
B)  that they made us aware of the gap between the transcendent reality of the forms of beauty and goodness and the real world. 
C)  their allowance for the expression of basic emotions,such as fear and pity,and the elements of character and plot were effective in evoking such emotions. 
D)  that they taught people that the material world was passing away and so of little value. 
A)  their expression of the transcendent form of beauty. 
B)  that they made us aware of the gap between the transcendent reality of the forms of beauty and goodness and the real world. 
C)  their allowance for the expression of basic emotions,such as fear and pity,and the elements of character and plot were effective in evoking such emotions. 
D)  that they taught people that the material world was passing away and so of little value.

Question 6

Plato and Aristotle disagree about whether poetry and theater promote or purify us of painful and disturbing emotions,such as fear and pity.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

Suppose a group of educated judges agreed that a given work of art was excellent.In that case,according to Hume,

Accepted Answer

A)  that work of art has objective worth,independent of experience. 
B)  there is still no standard for determining good taste. 
C)  we would have good taste even if we disagreed with these judges. 
D)  we would have good taste if we agreed with these judges. 
A)  that work of art has objective worth,independent of experience. 
B)  there is still no standard for determining good taste. 
C)  we would have good taste even if we disagreed with these judges. 
D)  we would have good taste if we agreed with these judges.

Question 8

The philosopher who claimed that the appreciation of beauty "frees us from the penal servitude of willing" was

Accepted Answer

A)  Confucius. 
B)  Schiller. 
C)  Schopenhauer. 
D)  Kant. 
A)  Confucius. 
B)  Schiller. 
C)  Schopenhauer. 
D)  Kant.

Question 9

Why does Kant believe that sharing an aesthetic experience with others depends on having a disinterested perspective?

Accepted Answer

Because one is not observing w

Question 10

Freud argued that laughter expresses

Accepted Answer

A)  a sense of one's superiority. 
B)  involuntary neurological reactions. 
C)  the release of suppressed
Thoughts or desires in a slightly revised or displaced form. 
D)  a perception of the incongruity in situations. 
A)  a sense of one's superiority. 
B)  involuntary neurological reactions. 
C)  the release of suppressed
Thoughts or desires in a slightly revised or displaced form. 
D)  a perception of the incongruity in situations.

Question 11

How does Aristotle explain the pleasure we take in watching dramas where bad and painful things happen to people?

Accepted Answer

Aristotle suggests that the function of

Question 12

What did it mean for medieval painters to conceive of their paintings of Christ's crucifixion as correct?

Accepted Answer

The truth of such art was not the truth

Question 13

Is there such a thing as "good taste?" Plato and Aristotle would have answered "Yes," in light of their shared belief that beauty (or,more generally,aesthetic value)is objective.
Many people today,however,reject their objectivism,claiming instead that "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
" This means that the reality of beauty is subjective,depending on the responses and tastes of people to artwork.
This is a much more democratic viewpoint insofar as it seems to imply the equality of all tastes.
However,some philosophers,in particular,Hume and Kant,have developed a middle ground,between Plato and Aristotle's strong objectivism and democratic subjectivism.
They try to defend good taste and some version of subjectivism.
Write an essay on this disagreement.
Start by laying out Plato and Aristotle's viewpoint and its implications for aesthetic taste.
Then describe the democratic,subjectivist response.Follow this with an overview of Hume and Kant's viewpoints on taste.
Do you believe either Hume or Kant has succeeded in carving out a workable compromise?

Accepted Answer

This essay requires students t

Question 14

Before it became associated with art and beauty,the word aesthetics had to do with feeling in general.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

Because of our philosophical doubts about the order and the meaning of the universe,many contemporary aestheticians argue that

Accepted Answer

A)  aesthetics needs to refocus its energies and resuscitate the experience of beauty. 
B)  great art is needed to revive our spirits. 
C)  religious art is no longer valid. 
D)  beauty in art is often sentimental or fraudulent. 
A)  aesthetics needs to refocus its energies and resuscitate the experience of beauty. 
B)  great art is needed to revive our spirits. 
C)  religious art is no longer valid. 
D)  beauty in art is often sentimental or fraudulent.

Question 16

David Hume argues that an artwork is valuable if it

Accepted Answer

A)  inspires a particular aesthetic emotion. 
B)  exhibits closure. 
C)  inspires catharsis. 
D)  is inspired by the transcendent form of beauty. 
A)  inspires a particular aesthetic emotion. 
B)  exhibits closure. 
C)  inspires catharsis. 
D)  is inspired by the transcendent form of beauty.

Question 17

Plato believed that beauty was a transcendent value,surpassing ordinary,worldly reality,but he also appreciated how worldly beauty (and other aesthetic values which provoke emotional responses)can shape human behavior.
Write an essay on Plato's theory of beauty,linking this to his rationale for distinguishing between good art and bad art,and to his argument (in The Republic)for promoting and banning or censoring bad art,especially tragedy.
Contrast Plato's theory with Aristotle's understanding of beauty,focusing,again,on tragedy.Which viewpoint seems more defensible,and why?

Accepted Answer

This essay requires students t

Question 18

Wild and crazy dance music,according to Nietzsche,would be an example of

Accepted Answer

A)  Apollonian art. 
B)  Dionysian art. 
C)  bad taste. 
D)  how art can teach us to cooperate. 
A)  Apollonian art. 
B)  Dionysian art. 
C)  bad taste. 
D)  how art can teach us to cooperate.

Question 19

What common thread links contemporary efforts at censoring movies and television and Plato's notion that some of the arts,including poetry should be banned?

Accepted Answer

Contemporary demands for the censorship

Question 20

Contrast Nietzsche's concepts of Apollonian and Dionysian art.

Accepted Answer

Apollonian art embodies classical forms

Both Plato and Aristotle understood beauty as an objective and not subjective reality.

Confucius believed that music appreciation is conducive to virtue because from the harmonious interplay among voices,we learn how to construct harmony more generally in our lives.

Kant and Schopenhauer believed that humor depended on activating a priori structures of funniness within the mind.

One implication of Plato's view of beauty is that artists should be socially responsible when they produce works of art.

According to Aristotle,what made Oedipus Rex and Medea great works of art was

Plato and Aristotle disagree about whether poetry and theater promote or purify us of painful and disturbing emotions,such as fear and pity.

Suppose a group of educated judges agreed that a given work of art was excellent.In that case,according to Hume,

The philosopher who claimed that the appreciation of beauty "frees us from the penal servitude of willing" was

Why does Kant believe that sharing an aesthetic experience with others depends on having a disinterested perspective?

Freud argued that laughter expresses

How does Aristotle explain the pleasure we take in watching dramas where bad and painful things happen to people?

What did it mean for medieval painters to conceive of their paintings of Christ's crucifixion as correct?

Before it became associated with art and beauty,the word aesthetics had to do with feeling in general.

Because of our philosophical doubts about the order and the meaning of the universe,many contemporary aestheticians argue that

David Hume argues that an artwork is valuable if it

Wild and crazy dance music,according to Nietzsche,would be an example of

What common thread links contemporary efforts at censoring movies and television and Plato's notion that some of the arts,including poetry should be banned?

Contrast Nietzsche's concepts of Apollonian and Dionysian art.

Philosophical Questions

The Meaning of Life

God

The Nature of Reality

The Search for Truth

Self

Freedom

Morality and the Good Life

Justice and the Good Society

Non-Western Philosophy

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Exam 11: Beauty

Both Plato and Aristotle understood beauty as an objective and not subjective reality.

Confucius believed that music appreciation is conducive to virtue because from the harmonious interplay among voices,we learn how to construct harmony more generally in our lives.

Kant and Schopenhauer believed that humor depended on activating a priori structures of funniness within the mind.

One implication of Plato's view of beauty is that artists should be socially responsible when they produce works of art.

According to Aristotle,what made Oedipus Rex and Medea great works of art was

Plato and Aristotle disagree about whether poetry and theater promote or purify us of painful and disturbing emotions,such as fear and pity.

Suppose a group of educated judges agreed that a given work of art was excellent.In that case,according to Hume,

The philosopher who claimed that the appreciation of beauty "frees us from the penal servitude of willing" was

Why does Kant believe that sharing an aesthetic experience with others depends on having a disinterested perspective?

Freud argued that laughter expresses

How does Aristotle explain the pleasure we take in watching dramas where bad and painful things happen to people?

What did it mean for medieval painters to conceive of their paintings of Christ's crucifixion as correct?

Before it became associated with art and beauty,the word aesthetics had to do with feeling in general.

Because of our philosophical doubts about the order and the meaning of the universe,many contemporary aestheticians argue that

David Hume argues that an artwork is valuable if it

Wild and crazy dance music,according to Nietzsche,would be an example of

What common thread links contemporary efforts at censoring movies and television and Plato's notion that some of the arts,including poetry should be banned?

Contrast Nietzsche's concepts of Apollonian and Dionysian art.

Philosophical Questions

The Meaning of Life

God

The Nature of Reality

The Search for Truth

Self

Freedom

Morality and the Good Life

Justice and the Good Society

Non-Western Philosophy

Filters