Aesthetics is a science that studies the relationship between human aesthetics and reality.
People live in the world and have relations with all kinds of things around them. Because people have different occupations and interests, even if they face the same thing, their ideas are different, and in fact, their relationship with that thing is different. Suppose a geologist and an artist climb Mount Huangshan, their relationship with this spectacular natural object may be different. Although the scientist also appreciates the beautiful scenery, his task makes him have to concentrate on observing the faults of rocks and determining their nature and age. Although the artist will find the geological structure very knowledgeable when he sees this place, his mission is to solve the problem of natural beauty. He can tell which boulder looks like what and how from a large number of photos taken, and tell the reason why it is so beautiful. Here, the relationship between the scientist and Huangshan Mountain is scientific research, and the law he explores is the law of geological formation; The relationship between the artist and Huangshan Mountain is aesthetic, and what he pursues is to sum up the general laws from this individual aesthetic activity. People feel and evaluate the beauty (or ugliness) of objective reality, thus enhancing their understanding of objective reality, which is called "the aesthetic relationship between man and reality" in aesthetics. In this relationship, people not only feel beauty directly from nature and society, but also from the art created by people (called "aesthetic feeling" or "aesthetic feeling" in aesthetics). It can be said that art is the highest expression of people's aesthetic relationship with reality. Simply put, aesthetics is a science that studies the general law of the relationship between human aesthetics and reality; The focus of its research is the general law of art.
Study aesthetic objects
Aesthetics is a broad science. In daily life, people always consciously or unconsciously produce aesthetic feeling, and the most common facts are shape and color. Clothes, electrical appliances, houses, landscapes, flowers and birds and other natural scenery all have problems of beauty. People wear clothes with generous styles and harmonious colors, which gives people a sense of beauty, but the opposite phenomenon often makes people feel unhappy, which reflects the aesthetic taste of the public. In social life, we can also get aesthetic feeling from people's spiritual realm, which is closely related to goodness, such as people and things that show lofty ideals and just actions. Zhang Zhixin was praised by the masses for his kindness and his adherence to the truth. Instead, it was the guy who wanted to be the queen, who was spurned because of the ugly soul who did all kinds of bad things. Here, there are both moral judgments and aesthetic judgments. From ancient times to the present, people have to think about the essence of beauty (whether beauty is material or spiritual), the contradiction between beauty and ugliness, and the sublimity, beauty, tragedy and comedy in social practice, so as to make a summary and generalization. These theoretical studies constitute an important part of aesthetics.
Study aesthetic consciousness
In the process of contacting and understanding aesthetic objects, aesthetic consciousness (the reflection of the beauty of the objective world in people's minds) naturally arises in people's minds. This is a unique reflection ability of human beings, which enables people to actively understand and transform the world. In the field of aesthetics, there have been different views on aesthetic consciousness. Idealists attribute aesthetic consciousness to innate ability; Old materialism explores aesthetic consciousness from human nature; Marxist philosophy holds that the root of aesthetic consciousness lies in social practice, which is restricted by specific historical conditions. Therefore, under certain historical conditions, in a certain sense, aesthetic consciousness has a class nature. This naturally involves the close relationship between aesthetic consciousness and moral consciousness and scientific consciousness. The issue of truth, goodness and beauty urges people to broaden their aesthetic horizons. Therefore, we have to discuss the problems of thinking in images and logical thinking, as well as the language and symbols of art. Especially the psychological process of aesthetic feeling is extremely complicated. For example, when we appreciate the painting "founding ceremony", we will imagine the grand occasion at that time and arouse emotional excitement. At the same time, we will think about how many people related to this historical event worked hard for the birth of the new China and gained a high degree of aesthetic enjoyment from the lofty image of Tiananmen Square. It is an urgent problem to study the relationship between various psychological factors in aesthetic feeling so that aesthetics can be supported by natural science. With the development of aesthetics, people pay more and more attention to the subjective study of aesthetic consciousness, that is, to clarify its essence, characteristics and historical development law from epistemology and psychology.
Another important part of aesthetics is introduced.
Study the general laws of art
People in any country have their own unique aesthetic activities. Ideas derived from their respective social practices also include aesthetic thoughts. This idea enables people to create art and appreciate it. Obviously, art is different from science. It is not enough to reflect the objective reality truthfully. Creation and appreciation must be carried out under the control of aesthetic consciousness. When an artist is creating, he always shows people and things that he thinks are beautiful in the form that he thinks is beautiful. Appreciators always feel and evaluate the "beauty" of their works according to their own aesthetics and aesthetic ability. There can be no subjective factors such as ideological understanding and psychological activities here. Only when people turn aesthetic consciousness into realistic material forms such as painting and drama can they become art, so it can be said that art is the concentrated expression of the materialization of aesthetic consciousness. Art is of great significance to social practice, and its role is irreplaceable by science. For example, "Rights and Law" performed by the Youth Art Theatre reflects major issues in real life by artistic means. The conflict of drama expression is a major concern of the public. The struggle between those who safeguard the interests of the party and the people and those who endanger the country is presented to the audience through typical figures and events, which has an impact that theory and other forms of propaganda cannot achieve. When a principled producer's mood fluctuates, children's songs come from behind the scenes. In people's minds, the image of being responsible for future generations immediately rises, and it also shows how small bureaucrats who violate the law and discipline only for personal enjoyment are. It is precisely because, as mentioned above, the creation and appreciation of art are inseparable from the cultivation of critical beauty. Therefore, to study aesthetics, we must explore the origin and essence of art, the relationship between art and politics, the special way in which art reflects reality, the relationship between artistic image and typicality, content and form, artistic types, as well as the laws of artistic creation activities, artistic appreciation and comments. The aesthetic law summarized from artistic practice and theory and its historical development is another important part of the aesthetic system.
It is closely related to many disciplines.
From the perspective of aesthetics, it is not difficult to imagine how widely it is related to other sciences. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy. Some basic problems of aesthetics belong to philosophical problems. Of course, the general principles of philosophy can not replace aesthetics, it can only provide theories and methods for aesthetics. Aesthetics and ethics are closely related. Especially in the socialist cause, beauty and goodness are highly unified. However, aesthetics and ethics cannot be confused. Art plays a particularly important role in the education of capitalism. Aesthetic study of people's aesthetic ideal can help people understand art, and aesthetics and psychology are also indispensable, because aesthetic consciousness is a special psychological activity, and the study of art psychology is helpful to the development of aesthetics. The relationship between aesthetics and art theory is generally understood. The formation and development of aesthetics can not be separated from artistic theory, which is the basis of aesthetic development. The summary and generalization made by aesthetics on this basis is of methodological significance to the study of art theory. There should be a division of labor between the two, but they can't be absolutely divided. In addition, art history, cultural history, pedagogy, sociology, etc. There are also various connections with aesthetics.
Closely linked with social practice.
Aesthetics is also a science to promote social practice. Aesthetics originates from social practice, and once it comes into being, it becomes a force that reacts to social practice. With the help of aesthetics, artists and art theorists sum up their own artistic creation experience and social aesthetic taste, master the law of artistic development, open up new creative paths and determine their own attitudes and methods. At the same time, aesthetics also contributes to people's artistic appreciation, cultivates healthy aesthetic taste, and improves people's aesthetic ability and cultural accomplishment. In fact, aesthetics will always serve practice. Throughout the world, in many countries with developed aesthetics, aesthetics has been widely valued and applied. In literature, drama, fine arts, calligraphy, music, dance, movies, crafts, architecture, gardens, landscape design and many other aspects, a large number of aesthetic problems have been put forward for study, and even the modeling of appliances, the color of factory walls, and the beautification of workers' living and working environment are all within the thinking range of some aestheticians.
In order to make aesthetics serve practice better, we must promote colorful artistic creation and appreciation, advocate healthy aesthetic taste, make people's lives truly beautified, and resist those wrong aesthetic thoughts and artistic activities. Because aesthetic education is closely related to sentiment, aesthetic accomplishment plays an important role in cultivating noble morality. A good movie, a good novel, a good song, and a good painting can not only make people enjoy the beauty of art, but also enhance their spiritual realm through subtle influence, thus promoting people to be positive. A healthy aesthetic consciousness can make people accept the truly beautiful things and reject the ugly things ideologically and emotionally, which is helpful to establish a noble sentiment that meets the requirements of social progress.
Strictly speaking, up to now, aesthetics is still in the process of growth. In this sense, aesthetics can also be said to be a young science. The basic problems in the field of aesthetics, such as the object of aesthetics and the essence of beauty, are still being discussed in academic circles. At present, it is hard to say that aesthetics has formed a complete scientific system that can stand the test of practice. Especially in China, it has not developed normally. "Ten-year catastrophe" completely suffocated aesthetics. The field of aesthetics needs to be developed urgently. Young people who are interested in aesthetics, let us work together to contribute to the popularization and improvement of aesthetics.