Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Being Particular

I've been running some ideas through what passes for my mind for a TOK lecture on Art as an Area of Knowledge (or something like that, forgotten the exact wording). Suddenly realised the question How do I know this is art? (asked of a particular something) is a lot more interesting than the generalised What is Art? And this despite the fact that you're going to at some point have to address the latter to make any progress on the former.

Or do you have to? There's an odd pleasure in simply leaving the bigger question hanging and just arguing the toss over the merits or demerits of the something in question.

Art is necessary even though we don't know what it is.

1 comment:

Trebuchet said...

I think the real trick is to leave the bigger question hanging in such an odd way that everyone wants to come around and have a bash at it, like some sort of piƱata...