Ethics and Aesthetics

Ethics is defined as morality, what is right and what is wrong? Aesthetics is the appreciation of beauty and taste. The purpose of art is to produce beauty, and it is this beauty which arouses desire and pleasure.  The finest beauty is found in nature. Nature is beautiful and sublime, it looks like art, whereas art is only beautiful because it is artificial and not natural. There is an idea that if you are looking at beauty then you are not thinking about pain. Kant says there is two types of beauty: free beauty and derivative beauty; artificial beauty is not a beautiful thing. Kant argues that real beauty doesn't have a purpose, it is just beautiful because it is. Plato's idea of the perfect forms comes in to his aesthetics, the principle that there is a perfect form of beauty and art. Plato regards art as copies and ideas of material things.


There are three types of art:
1. Arts of Speech - poetry
2. Formative Arts - painting, sculpture, architecture
3. Play of sensations - music

Bentham

Happiness is one of the greatest concepts in the system of morality, moral philosophers regard happiness as the supreme good, apart from Kant, who considered duty as the ethical motive. Bentham regards pleasure as the supreme good which he associates with happiness; the greatest happiness for the greatest number, gives the greatest pleasure. However, Kenny's book 'Philosophy in the modern world' outlines the ambiguity of this statement, to be begin with: The greatest number of what?, Should individuals attempt to control the number of candidates for happiness? Does the extension of happiness to a great number mean that we should try to bring more people into existence? and when we are measuring the happiness of a population, do we consider only total happiness, or should we consider average happiness too? In my opinion, it is important to note, that different people have their own forms of pleasure: for instance, boxers get pleasure out of fighting but to someone else, this pleasure would be pain. So how could we grade pleasure? This needs to be modified for utility. Bentham regarded pleasure as a sensation, not only caused by eating, drinking and sex, whereas, Aristotle disagreed and refused to link happiness with the pleasures of the senses. Bentham believes that the quality of pleasure does not matter, and that all pleasure is equal. Bentham lists two principles, first the principle of asceticism, which is the mirror image of utility and second the principle of sympathy and antipathy which judges actions as good or bad, in other sense it is common sense and moral understanding. He divides moral philosophers into two categorises absolutists who believe that an action is wrong and that is should never be done, and consequentialists who believe that the morality of actions should be judged on the consequences. Before Bentham most philosophers were absolutists who believed in natural rights, however he rejects the notional of natural law and natural rights.

Schopenhauer 

The ethical teaching of Schopenhauer is linked to metaphysics, he believes the world of experience is just an illusion and that the true reality, and thing-in-itself is the universal will. We are all creatures of will, and our will can never change. The root of all willing is need and pain, every time we want something it causes us pain, and we suffer until our needs are satisfied, but once we are satisfied, then the will lacks objects of desire and thus life becomes a burden of boredom. Schopenhauer teaches that the only way to cure this, is to overcome your desires; the way to do so is through intoxication. Although sex, drugs and alcohol achieve ecstasy, it is only temperamental, we cannot be drunk and high for eternity. Unlike, the form of arts such as paintings and literature, which can inspire someone. Moreover, Schopenhauer believes to overcome desire we must drive ourselves into a trance through music, even though there will come a time when the music will stop. Kierkegaard regards music as the most abstract of the arts, like language is the vehicle of spirit, music is the vehicle of sensuality.

Nietzsche

Nietzsche's most famous work is 'The birth of tragedy' in the spirit of music. He bases his aesthetic theory on Schopenhauer's pessimistic view of life, similarly they both see art as the easiest escape from the tyranny of life. Nietzsche believes there are two ways to escape reality: intoxication and dreaming. He presents these forms in two gods: Apollo and Dionysus. Apollo being the God of light, dreams and beauty and Dionysus being the god of intoxication and ecstasy; the duality of these two gods is the development and progress of Art., creating a Greek Tragedy.

In contrast to Schopenhauer, Nietzsche believes desire is good, and that we should build upon these strong passions, after all it is these desires which bring us happiness.

Some quotes to leave you on:
"It is better to be a human dissatisfied, then a pig satisfied" 
"Death is just a sleep in which individuality is forgotten"
"Walking is only constantly prevented falling, the life of our body is only ever postponed death, the life of out mind is constantly deferred boredom"