Modern and Postmodern Approaches to Truth and Art

Modern and Postmodern Approaches to Truth and Art
The search for truth is the ultimate endeavor of the human species. Art, being a necessary form of cultural expression, is assumed by some thinkers as a representation of the truth or that art is the truth. Some thinkers, however, reject these notions, as highlighted by the differences between modern and postmodern perceptions of truth and reality based on art. In this view, the current paper discusses the views of some of the earliest thinkers on the subject. Ultimately, the paper seeks to compare and contrast modern and postmodern approaches to truth and art.
Art as Representation of Reality
Plato’s theory of forms assumes that reality is an immaterial (spiritual) eternal, perfect, changeless, and unique form. As a result, the object of the material world is a copy of an immaterial (Euron, 2019). In Plato’s view, the things people meet in everyday experience are nothing but an imitation of this immaterial, eternal, and perfect form, which is what art tries to capture as the truth. In other words, art is a false representation of reality or truth, meaning art cannot capture reality. On the other hand, Aristotle's theory of art as an imitation holds that the aim of art is to represent the inward significance of things and not the outward appearance. In this view, art is not just copying but an idealization of nature by completing its faults. Thus, in Aristotle’s view, art is a representation of reality.
The Stone Breaker is an 1848 painting by Gustave Courbet. As a work of realism, the painting depicts two peasants, a young and old man, breaking rocks. The painting is assumed to represent reality because it depicts what happens in the real world. In other words, it represents the truth of how peasant families eke out a living through hard labor. The clothes worn by the men are of the era in which the painting was done, including the tools used. The environment also shows this is a rocky environment which means it is true that quarrying could be an economic activity for people here. This art, therefore, reflects the shared nature of labor and hard work among the human species. From Aristotle’s point of view, the painting represents reality or the truth. However, Plato would argue that the painting is only trying to imitate what is true.
Art as the Truth
Some thinkers also perceive art as the truth. Rejecting the imitation theory, Schelling, for instance, believed that art reveals a higher than what is actual (Flodin, 2018). Like Schelling, Nietzsche rejected the notions of imitation theory, arguing that art is a metaphysical comple...