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 | | Art, Education, and the Democratic Commitment: A Defense of State Support for the Arts (Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture) by D.T. Schwartz ISBN-10: 9780792362920 ISBN-10: 0-7923-6292-6 ISBN-13: 9780792362920 ISBN-13: 978-0-7923-6292-0 Hardcover 2000-04-30 Springer Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description This book offers a comprehensive and novel argument in favor of subsidizing the arts. For readers already in favor of subsidy, the book offers a distinctly political rationale for government support: engaging the arts helps develop the intellectual faculties of judgment. By appealing to art's instrumental ability to educate democratic citizens, the book avoids the most common criticisms of subsidy, namely that it is elitist and paternalistic. For those who oppose subsidy or are undecided, the book injects new ideas into the debate and maps arts subsidy onto the larger landscape of political liberalism. Yet, while using political liberalism as its point of departure, the book's positive argument for subsidy draws on numerous philosophical traditions, including continental philosophy and the philosophy of art. This multi-disciplinary approach gives the book a comprehensiveness not found in purely analytical treatments of the topic. The book is accessible, and should serve a variety of readers, including political philosophers, philosophers of art, art historians, policy makers, and practising artists interested in the subsidy issue. | ||
Reviews | ||
The Arts as our most powerful social engine This is a very powerful and needed work. The success of the American economy in the last twenty years has produced to some, an economic rejection of the artist as a noble pioneer and prophet of truth and introspection. The artist has become a purveyor to many of just one more form of consumer goods rather than an Ideal. Just as our society seems focused upon the idea of "celeberty", views seem to be evolving as artists being those who possesses clever insight and executes their craft with reasonable ability to produce a product that garnersing a portion of public affection and collectability and becomesing just one more valuable commodity to be traded and exchanged with an eye to rising intrinsic worth. Dr. Schwartz asserts the artist's work is rather an endeavor of idealism and exploration. Just as the exploration of the universe brings discoveries that alter our perception of physical existence, and often reveals sights and grandeur that can be both beautiful and shocking as well as challenging. As a natural extention of this ideal, government funding of the Arts should be done with considerations very similar to those made when concerning the building of national infrastructure. He argues that Art can be shown to have a vitally necessesary and demonstratable function, serving as a powerful catalyst for building tolerance, insight, and the intellectual stimulation so essential to a democratic society. It must support ventures into realms of thought once thought to be too "dangerous" to traverse, for the same reasons it supports geophysical and astrophysical exploration. He asserts the preservation and enrichment of a representative democracy cannot be restricted to simply issues of legal and economic equality. He presents issues of considerations as to the role of the Arts and their inherent ability to transcend polical and social issues appealing often more directly to the emotions and intellect in subtle and powerful ways that stimulate more productive debate. Dr. Schwartz examines issues concerning roles of the State, the moral considerations in the use of taxation as a tool to raise funds, and the fundamental roles Government must serve in creating the free and noble atmosphere of political neutrality needed so that "the paltry sums needed to support them represent a wise investment." In this era of often rampantly bitter debate regarding the funding of the arts by Govenment, this book is an vitally important examination of the ingredients needed to construct a sound and democratic approach to this debate by examining the needed roles that Art must serve in our society. He asserts that although Art appeals to the emotional nature, our approach to the support of the Arts must have a sound philosophically directed base in order to create a maximum and effective introspective impact upon the debate of citizens. This book is a vital and essential tool with which to examine and consider the issues in this often emotionally charged debate. As an artist and teacher, I find this to be a powerful tool in suspending the judgement of the emotionally skeptical who seem to check their intellect "at the door" when debating these issues. These ideas are a progression of work that have been presented to the New York Council of the Arts. To me they serve to more clearly define roles in public funding of the Arts as much more than mere social jewelery. | ||