Four causes
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| - | '''''Fine art''''' refers to arts that are "concerned with [[beauty]] or which appealed to [[taste (aesthetics)|taste]]" (SOED 1991). The term was first attested in [[1767]], as a translation from the French term ''[[beaux arts]]'' and designates a limited number of [[Visual arts|visual art]] forms, including [[painting]], [[sculpture]], [[architecture]] and [[printmaking]]. Schools, institutes, and other organizations still use the term to indicate a traditional perspective on the visual arts, often implying an association with classic or [[academic art]]. | ||
| - | The word "fine" does not so much denote the quality of the artwork in question, but the purity of the discipline. This definition tends to exclude visual art forms that could be considered [[handicraft|craftwork]] or [[applied art]], such as [[textiles]]. The more recent term ''[[visual arts]]'' is widely considered to be a more inclusive and descriptive phrase for today's variety of current art practices, and for the multitude of mediums in which high art is now more widely recognized to occur. Ultimately, the term ''fine'' in 'fine art' comes from the concept of [[Final Cause]], or purpose, or end, in the [[philosophy]] of [[Aristotle]]. | + | [[Aristotle]] held that there were '''four kinds of causes''': |
| - | An alternative, if flippant, reference to "fine art," is ''capital "A" art'', or, ''art with a capital "A."'' | + | * A thing's '''material cause''' is the material it consists of. (For a table, that might be wood; for a statue, that might be bronze or marble.) |
| + | * A thing's '''formal cause''' is its form, i.e. the arrangement of that matter. | ||
| + | * A thing's '''efficient''' or '''moving cause''' is "the primary source of the change or rest." An efficient cause of ''x'' can be present even if ''x'' is never actually produced and so should not be confused with a sufficient cause. (Aristotle argues that, for a table, this would be the art of table-making, which is the principle guiding its creation.) | ||
| + | * A thing's '''final cause''' is its aim or purpose. (For a seed, it might be an adult plant. For a sailboat, it might be sailing. For a ball on the top of a ramp, it might be the ball rolling down the ramp.) | ||
| + | ==Final cause== | ||
| - | The term is still often used outside of the arts to denote when someone has perfected an activity to a very high level of skill. For example, one might metaphorically say that "[[Pelé]] took [[football (soccer)|football]] to the level of a ''fine art''." | + | '''Final cause''', or ''[[telos]]'', is defined as the purpose, end, aim, or goal of something. Aristotle, who defined the term, explicitly argued that a ''telos'' can be present without any form of deliberation, consciousness or intelligence in general. For example (and according to Aristotle), a seed has the eventual adult plant as its final cause (i.e., as its ''telos'') [[iff]] the seed would become the adult plant under normal circumstances. The Greek word ''[[Telos (philosophy)|Telos]]'' is still used in philosophical and theological discussion today in this specific Aristotelian way. In ''Physics'' II.9, Aristotle hazards a few arguments that a determination of the final cause of a phenomenon is more important than the others. He argues that the final cause is the cause of that which brings it about, so for example "if one defines the operation of sawing as being a certain kind of dividing, then this cannot come about unless the saw has teeth of a certain kind; and these cannot be unless it is of iron." According to Aristotle, once a final cause is in place the material, efficient and formal causes follow by necessity. However he recommends that the student of nature determine the other causes as well, and notes that not all phenomena have a final cause in the first place. |
| - | That fine art is seen as being distinct from [[applied art]]s is largely the result of an issue raised in Britain by the conflict between the followers of the [[Arts and Crafts Movement]], including [[William Morris]], and the early [[modernists]], including [[Virginia Woolf]] and the [[Bloomsbury Group]]. The former sought to bring socialist principles to bear on the arts by including the more commonplace crafts of the masses within the realm of the arts, while the [[modernists]] sought to keep artistic endeavour exclusive, esoteric, and [[elitism|elitist]]. | + | ==See also== |
| + | * [[Anthropic principle]] | ||
| + | * [[Causality]] | ||
| + | * [[Teleology]] | ||
| + | * [[Purpose]] | ||
| + | *[[The purpose of a system is what it does|Stafford Beer's POSIWID principle]] | ||
| + | *[[Tinbergen's four questions]] | ||
| + | *[[Four discourses|Lacan's four discourses]] | ||
| - | Confusion often occurs when people mistakenly refer to the Fine Arts but mean the Performing Arts (Music, Dance, Drama, etc). However, there is some disagreement here, as, for example, at [[York University]], Fine Arts is a faculty that includes the "traditional" fine arts, design, <I>and</I> the "Performing Arts". | ||
| - | An academic course of study in fine art may include a [[Master of Fine Arts]] degree. {{GFDL}} | + | {{GFDL}} |
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Aristotle held that there were four kinds of causes:
- A thing's material cause is the material it consists of. (For a table, that might be wood; for a statue, that might be bronze or marble.)
- A thing's formal cause is its form, i.e. the arrangement of that matter.
- A thing's efficient or moving cause is "the primary source of the change or rest." An efficient cause of x can be present even if x is never actually produced and so should not be confused with a sufficient cause. (Aristotle argues that, for a table, this would be the art of table-making, which is the principle guiding its creation.)
- A thing's final cause is its aim or purpose. (For a seed, it might be an adult plant. For a sailboat, it might be sailing. For a ball on the top of a ramp, it might be the ball rolling down the ramp.)
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Final cause
Final cause, or telos, is defined as the purpose, end, aim, or goal of something. Aristotle, who defined the term, explicitly argued that a telos can be present without any form of deliberation, consciousness or intelligence in general. For example (and according to Aristotle), a seed has the eventual adult plant as its final cause (i.e., as its telos) iff the seed would become the adult plant under normal circumstances. The Greek word Telos is still used in philosophical and theological discussion today in this specific Aristotelian way. In Physics II.9, Aristotle hazards a few arguments that a determination of the final cause of a phenomenon is more important than the others. He argues that the final cause is the cause of that which brings it about, so for example "if one defines the operation of sawing as being a certain kind of dividing, then this cannot come about unless the saw has teeth of a certain kind; and these cannot be unless it is of iron." According to Aristotle, once a final cause is in place the material, efficient and formal causes follow by necessity. However he recommends that the student of nature determine the other causes as well, and notes that not all phenomena have a final cause in the first place.
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See also
- Anthropic principle
- Causality
- Teleology
- Purpose
- Stafford Beer's POSIWID principle
- Tinbergen's four questions
- Lacan's four discourses
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