Some random threads of thought provoked by this essay:
My favourite definition of art and argument for its value comes from Susan Sontag's essay 'On Style'. In it she writes "Art is the objectifying of the will in a thing or performance, and the provoking or arousing of the will. From the point of view of the artist, it is the objectifying of a volition; from the point of view of the spectator, it is the creation of an imaginary décor for the will." And also "The overcoming or transcending of the world in art is also a way of encountering the world, and of training or educating the will to be in the world"
To the extent that cultivated will is one of humanity's most prized possessions, this is a way to understand why art matters.
The definition I think may also have interesting connections with the work of C. Thi Nguyen and his philosophy of games, in particular his book Games: Agency as Art (though I haven't read it yet):
Yes, Nguyen’s work is great. I think his position is very close to mine, although he sees specific games as eliciting the quality of “aesthetic striving” in players, whereas I think this quality is present in all games, pretty much.
The messy and complicated ways that software is embedded in the world are important. But the Mongols were embedded in the world in messy and complicated ways; that didn't prevent them from destroying large parts of it.
Some random threads of thought provoked by this essay:
My favourite definition of art and argument for its value comes from Susan Sontag's essay 'On Style'. In it she writes "Art is the objectifying of the will in a thing or performance, and the provoking or arousing of the will. From the point of view of the artist, it is the objectifying of a volition; from the point of view of the spectator, it is the creation of an imaginary décor for the will." And also "The overcoming or transcending of the world in art is also a way of encountering the world, and of training or educating the will to be in the world"
To the extent that cultivated will is one of humanity's most prized possessions, this is a way to understand why art matters.
The definition I think may also have interesting connections with the work of C. Thi Nguyen and his philosophy of games, in particular his book Games: Agency as Art (though I haven't read it yet):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327681947_Games_Agency_as_Art
Yes, Nguyen’s work is great. I think his position is very close to mine, although he sees specific games as eliciting the quality of “aesthetic striving” in players, whereas I think this quality is present in all games, pretty much.
The messy and complicated ways that software is embedded in the world are important. But the Mongols were embedded in the world in messy and complicated ways; that didn't prevent them from destroying large parts of it.
True!