Philosophy and Art

Philosophy

What is philosophy? This question itself is philosophy. Socrates, who established the practice of philosophy in ancient Greece, continued to ask the very question, “What is this?” It is a fundamental rethinking of the various ideas about human beings and the world that we usually take for granted, using language and logic. In the field of philosophy, we focus on both theoretical philosophy, which is concerned with human knowledge itself, and social philosophy, which is concerned with human actions, activities, organizations, and institutions, in cooperation with the field of ethics.

Ethics

Life, aging, sickness, death, poverty, separation, care, and mourning… no matter how different modern society may be from the past, the difficulties that people face in living their lives are timeless, transcend regional boundaries, and have something in common. In the field of ethics, in cooperation with the field of philosophy, we will examine, for example, people’s views on life and death and their attitudes toward illness, poverty, and old age from a broad historical perspective, drawing from Confucian, Buddhist, and Shinto thought in Japan and Greco-Roman ethical thought and Christian thought in the West.

Art Studies

The field of Art Studies, in conjunction with art history, examines the creation aesthetics, and reception of works of art, . There has never been a civilization that has not produced paintings, music, drama, architecture, clothing, and other forms of creativity that can be called art. If humans painted before they wrote and sang before they spoke, the mysteries of the arts would lead to the mysteries of the birth of human civilization. Decoration, games, travel, and landscapes are also the subjects of Art Studies.

Art History

In the field of Art History, students will gain an understanding of Japanese and Western works of art through their historical context. Buddhist statues, ukiyoe prints, oil paintings, and photographs are not merely beautiful, but have existed throughout history as a result of people’s beliefs and desires. We will elucidate the mechanisms of art that move society, the economy, and even politics through careful investigation and study in collaboration with the field of Art Studies. The ability to conduct research from a comprehensive viewpoint of aesthetics, art history, and art studies is one of the strengths of the Faculty of Letters of Okayama University.