Art and Epistemology (art-ep).
In this unit, I would like to research knowledge, learning.
How and where do we find it and might we acquire it from images?
The relationship between Art and Learning has long been examined, and every age has held its own opinions. One opinion from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy is that after examining theory from Plato (427—347 B.C.E.) and Aristotle to Noël Carroll (2002) is that we do indeed gain something from experiencing and looking at art but it is unlikely to be learning or knowledge.
I think that this is a fair comment, but I do feel there is a turnaround point, and in fact, if what we observe and experience is synergistically coupled with, for example, an emotion, a desire, a want, or a driven need to survive that in fact, we do learn and knowledge is aquired, even if we don't realize it at the time.
whether it is good safe knowledge depends on the source that we collect it from and the context we view it in- perspective is everything.
'The Economy Of Painting'- Notes On The Vitality Of A Success Medium.'
My thoughts on Synergistic learning are confirmed by Isabelle Graw in her talk 'The Economy Of Painting ‘where she touches on the ideas of indexicality, the absent author, vitalist projection, and our need to commune with the artist (whom we hold in high esteem) via an original artwork. She concludes that the artwork does contain knowledge that is imparted to the audience and the artist is present within their work either by the manifestation of their ideas or their actual handy work, which is the magic ingredient that allows this process to succeed.
Click on the Image for a link to the talk.
Knowledge For Need.
I experienced this need to learn and desire for knowledge in March 2020 when I enrolled online to learn about Covid -19 with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
Although we had not entered lockdown at that point, I felt threatened and as we locked down I learned as much as I could, as fast as I could, allowing me to navigate the crisis and protect my family. I found I absorbed the Information with ease and this quickly became knowledge which I applied. I would call this "Knowledge for Need".
We had a talk by Nour Mobarak where she discussed her practise which includes many sound works. She talked about the repeating of a word until it just becomes a sound, which reminded me of this habit I have of looking up key words and playing the word over and over as if at some point something unexpected will happen. I'm still waiting, although I have noticed that there are new voices in my head - so rather like the Dora Maura artwork in the Tate in 2019/20. Click on the image below.
Although I found the opening film slightly unsettling, it made me curious and I was lucky enough to catch her talk which was very informative and I learned a lot about her practice and the life she had led as a Hungarian visual artist born in 1937 in Budapest. The sound coupled with the images had hooked me, and a door had opened. This could be compared to the experimental films Isabell Graw had mentioned in her talk, where the artist's hand was so obviously present. I came away with some new life skills with which to approach my own work and world.
Socrates and his students, miniature from Mubashshir ibn Fātik, Mukhtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin al-kalim (“The Choicest Maxims and Best Sayings”), Seljuk manuscript, early 13th century; in the Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul.
Ken Welsh/Alamy
The Acquisition Of Knowledge Or Skills Though Study, Experience, Or Being Taught.
We cannot assimilate knowledge without learning so my question is how do we learn, what are the current theories and where have they come from?
Methodology & Pedagogy
Socrates declared in the 5th century BC pedagogy is an art, I wonder in that case is art a pedagogy?
According to, Steup, Matthias, and Ram Neta, "Epistemology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
The main difference between pedagogy and methodology is that pedagogy is a discipline that deals with the theory and practice of education and methodology is a systematic, theoretical analysis of the methods applied to that field of study - something one cannot receive from others as it is the complex result of instruction, personal experience and reflection.
So therefore a pedagogical methodology is a set of procedures to help all students learn, and it is synergistic as it requires theories, practice reflection, and application.
The five pedagogical approaches are the acquisition of; information skills, learning and innovation skills, communication skills, life, and career skills.
The five major methodologic approaches are; constructivist, collaborative, integrative, reflective, and inquiry-based learning.
KHEIRON (Chiron), Dionysos, and others arrive at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis (detail), Sophilos (painter), Black-figured bowl (dinos), and stand, c. 580 B.C.E., 71 cm high, Athens © Trustees of the British Museum.
Myth & Lore
It was KHEIRON (Chiron) if we believe Greek mythology, who taught the first teacher, as that the centaur was known for his abilities to impart knowledge it seemed a sensible choice.
KHEIRON (Chiron) himself had been instructed by Apollo and Artemis and was renowned for his skill in hunting, medicine, music, gymnastics, and the art of prophecy.
(https://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/KentaurosKheiron.html#:~:text=249.),and%20the%20art%20of%20prophecy.)
Knowledge What Is It, Is It Good For Us?
Plato’s epistemology was an attempt to understand what it was to know, and how knowledge is good for the knower.
(https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/)
Not everyone believes knowledge is good. Some believe it gives them power while others believe it is a comodity.
This raises the point of censorship and I am reminded of the sayings 'ignorance is bliss"(Thomas Gray, 1742) and the "sleep of the innocent" (Shakespeare, Macbeth).
The restricting of information, knowledge, and learning is often coupled with the subjugation of the arts, which indicates their ability to inform and empower which must mean they contain knowledge.
Many cultures today still refuse parts of their population equal access to knowledge, freedom, or equal pay, believing them inferior sadly much of this is due to teaching, Knowledge acquired from writing, and lore.
Female Lore/Mother Nature
Much of the prejudice that women suffer stems from the vilification of figures such as Pandora, Lilith, and Eve. Before that, there was the Goddess Nut, who on one hand had been seen as a virtuous mother, but on the other disobedient and lustful.
"Queen of the Night" Relief 1800-1750 B.C.E., Old Babylonian, baked straw-tempered clay,
49 x 37 x 4.8 cm, Southern Iraq and reconstruction
© Trustees of the British Museum
The figure could be an aspect of the goddess Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of sexual love and war, or Ishtar's sister and rival, the goddess Ereshkigal who ruled over the Underworld, or the demoness Lilitu, known in the Bible as Lilith.
In his book Lilith - The First Eve Published April 19, 2020, Siegmund Hurwitz talks about Liliths relevance to a psychological understanding of today’s evolving masculine and feminine identities.
Natalie Haynes in her recent books The Children of Jocasta,(2017) and Pandoras Jar(2020) has attempted to redress some of these imbalances within Greek Legends. Sadly no one yet has had the courage to tackle the Bible. These women are held responsible for the introduction of knowledge, free will, fire, and various plagues, and much civil disobedience, proving legend and the written word powerful especially in union with imagery to back it up, but what it imparts is open to interpretation.
Click image for a podcast fom the BBC discussing women and their portrayal within both the Bible and Greek Myths.
Types Knowledge - What are the four types?
According to Krathwohl (2002), knowledge can be categorized into four types: (1) factual knowledge, (2) conceptual knowledge, (3) procedural knowledge, and (4) metacognitive knowledge.
1/Factual knowledge is one of the most common types of knowledge it may be described as the basic information about a particular subject or discipline.
2/Conceptual Knowledge refers to the knowledge of, or understanding of concepts, principles, theories, models, classifications, etc. it is learned through reading, viewing, listening, experiencing, or thoughtful, reflective mental activity. It is also called Declarative Knowledge.
3/Procedural Knowledge gives us information on how to perform a specific skill or task and is knowledge related to methods, procedures, or operation of equipment. It is also called Implicit Knowledge or know-how.
4/Metacognition is the use of prior knowledge to plan a strategy for approaching a learning task allowing us to take the necessary steps to problem solve, reflect on and evaluate results. It also allows us to change our approach and improve or develop new better ways of doing things. It is critical for successful learning
https://sites.google.com/site/elearningsnippets/a-wiki-page/krathwohl-s-taxonomy
https://lincs.ed.gov/state-resources/federal-initiatives/teal/guide/metacognitive
Does Knowledge Make Us Happy?
In a study carried out between 1996 and 2001 by Leeds university into Education and learning in the work place education and the acquisition of knowledge in the workplace lead to a more fulfilled community and existance
The Young Schoolmistress ArtistJean-Siméon Chardin (1737)
Oil on canvas 61.6 x 66.7 cm. National Gallery, London
Epistemology
The term “epistemology” comes from the Greek words “episteme” and “logos”.
“Episteme” can be translated as “knowledge” or “understanding” or “acquaintance”.
“logos” can be translated as “account” or “argument” or “reason”.
Just as each of these different translations captures some facet of the meaning of these Greek terms, so too does each translation capture a different facet of epistemology itself.
Although the term “epistemology” is no more than a couple of centuries-old, the field of epistemology is at least as old as any in philosophy.
In different parts of its extensive history, different facets of epistemology have attracted attention.
Plato’s epistemology was an attempt to understand what it was to know, and how knowledge (unlike mere true opinion) is good for the knower.
Locke’s epistemology was an attempt to understand the operations of human understanding,
Kant’s epistemology was an attempt to understand the conditions of the possibility of human understanding.
Russell’s epistemology was an attempt to understand how modern science could be justified by appeal to sensory experience.
Much recent work in formal epistemology is an attempt to understand how our degrees of confidence are rationally constrained by our evidence, and much recent work in feminist epistemology is an attempt to understand the ways in which interests affect our evidence, and affect our rational constraints more generally.
In all these cases, epistemology seeks to understand one or another kind of cognitive success (or, correspondingly, cognitive failure).
First published Wed Dec 14, 2005; substantive revision Sat Apr 11, 2020
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/
Steup, Matthias and Ram Neta, “Epistemology”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2020/entries/epistemology/>.
Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). The Thinker, 1904. Cast bronze.
John Locke (1632-1704)
John Locke is often regarded as the founder of British Empiricism and therefore relevant to our understanding of how Knowledge is created He was influential in the areas of theology, religious toleration, and educational theory.
His educational theory is based on his empirical theory of human knowledge:
“An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”. When born, the mind of the child is like a blank slate — “tabula rasa”, to be filled later with the data derived from sensory experience. It logically ensues that education plays a crucial role in the moral development and social integration of any human being. Education means shaping according to each individual’s temperament and skills, exercised without brutality, but in a rigorous and pragmatic manner.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814036878 PDF.
According to Locke, there are two main questions.
First, what do you know?
Second, how do you acquire or achieve such knowledge?
Knowledge seems to be the perception of the connection and agreement or disagreement and repugnancy of any of our ideas. Where this perception is, there is knowledge, and where it is not, there, though we may fancy, guess, or believe, yet we always come short of knowledge.
So to learn we must perceive, not guess, all of our ideas must be acquired through direct experience.
Locke thinks reflection is passively received by the mind while looking in rather than out.
Complex ideas are ideas produced by the mind operating on ideas that are somehow already in the mind, whether simple or complex. One way to form complex ideas is by putting two ideas together.
AUTHOR INFORMATION MATTHEW PRISELAC UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA U. S. A.
Jean-Paul Sartre believed that Knowledge is what we may call a contrastive notion: knowledge is what consciousness is not.
Sartre agrees with Locke, and they both co-inside with Freud by believing our knowledge is created by our experiences, that in fact, we are a "blank canvas that life writes on" rather than born with a predetermined path or end. On the other end of the spectrum, we have a more Jungian sentiment that is shared by Shakespeare's Hamlet," There is a destiny that shapes our ends rough, hew them as we will." in line with Film Noir and the tragic genre.
Kant may be observed to agree with both.
While Bertrand Russel reiterates my belief, that if we are interested or our curiosity is raised a synergistic process is achieved, which is beneficial to the acquisition of knowledge through learning. I believe this methodology may be applied to both the scientific exploration of our reality through physics and the artistic exploration of the same through painting, where the artist is present either in their ideas or by the marks they make.
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) a central figure in modern philosophy had a definition of art, and of fine art; the latter, which Kant calls the art of genius, is “a kind of representation that is purposive in itself and, though without an end, nevertheless promotes the cultivation of the mental powers for sociable communication” (Kant, Critique of the Power of Judgment, Guyer translation, section 44, 46).)
Jacob Epstein working on a bust of Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell[1953] Black and white Photographic print 106 × 145 mm by Ida Kar