| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | What is the avant-garde view on art's relationship to social conformity, and what is the "avant-garde paradox"? |

Avant-garde view: True art must refuse to conform and must actively challenge existing social rules and academic conventions.
The paradox: Rebellion itself eventually generates new internal rules and conventions (e.g., surrealist principles), turning rebellion back into conformity.

| | How does Pierre Bourdieu explain artistic rebellion using his concept of the "field"? |

The art world is a competitive "field" where players vie for status, reputation, and cultural capital.
Both conformity and rebellion are calculated strategic moves within this field; even the rebel is playing the game to attract critics and galleries.

| | How does Damien Hirst's shark artwork (The Physical Impossibility of Death...) illustrate Pierre Bourdieu's theory of the art world? |

Hirst used apparent rebellion and shock value as a marketable brand rather than relying on traditional craftsmanship.
His defiance was a carefully managed strategy to accumulate cultural capital, proving he mastered the rules of the art-world "field."

| | Compare the Western avant-garde view of artistic excellence with that of traditional Islamic calligraphy or Japanese Noh theatre. What is the key point of disagreement? |

Avant-garde: Artistic value requires breaking rules, individual innovation, and defying social expectations.
Calligraphy/Noh: Artistic excellence emerges from disciplined conformity to established rules and the faithful execution of tradition.

| | In aesthetics, censorship is the suppression, restriction, or prohibition of artistic works by authorities on the grounds that they are harmful to public order, morally corrupting, or politically dangerous. | In aesthetics, censorship is the suppression, restriction, or prohibition of artistic works by authorities on the grounds that they are harmful to public order, morally corrupting, or politically dangerous. | | Compare Plato's and John Stuart Mill's positions on whether the state should censor art. What is their core disagreement? |

Plato: Supports censorship because art appeals to irrational passions, corrupts the soul, and undermines civic order.
Mill: Opposes censorship, arguing free artistic expression is vital for truth and individual character, and must not be restricted unless it causes direct harm.

| | How does J.S. Mill's "harm principle" apply to the censorship of offensive art, such as Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses? |

The harm principle permits restriction only to prevent direct, concrete harm to others.
Because a work of fiction causes mere offense or outrage rather than physical or direct harm, censorship is completely unjustified under Mill's view.

| | What is Judith Butler's concept of "performative harm" in art, and how does it challenge Mill's anti-censorship stance? |

Performative harm: Art does not just describe or reflect reality; it actively constructs and reinforces harmful social prejudices (e.g., racism).
This challenges Mill by showing art causes expressive harm by shaping how people see the world, which can be as real and damaging as direct physical harm.

| | How does D.W. Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation (1915) illustrate Judith Butler's concept of performative/expressive harm? |

Its technical brilliance made its racist mythology highly persuasive and powerful to audiences.
It did not merely reflect prejudice; it actively constituted a racist visual vocabulary that reinforced white supremacy for decades.

| | Artistic accountability concerns the question of to whom an artist owes responsibility for the content, effects, and social consequences of their work, ranging from communal or moral standards to full autonomy. | Artistic accountability concerns the question of to whom an artist owes responsibility for the content, effects, and social consequences of their work, ranging from communal or moral standards to full autonomy. | | What is Oscar Wilde's autonomist position on artistic accountability, and what is its main argument? |

Position: The artist is accountable only to their artistic vision and the pursuit of beauty, not to external moral or political standards.
Argument: Moral judgments impose external criteria that have nothing to do with aesthetic quality, which actively destroys artistic integrity.

| | What is Jean-Paul Sartre's view on artistic accountability in What Is Literature?, and what is his key argument? |

Position: The writer must produce littérature engagée (committed literature) and actively engage with the political struggles of their time.
Argument: Writing is an act of freedom directed at the reader's freedom; claiming political neutrality is a form of self-deception.

| | How does Richard Wright's novel Native Son serve as an example of Sartre's concept of littérature engagée? |

It confronts white American readers directly with the harsh reality of racial oppression.
It acts as a political provocation, forcing readers to acknowledge injustices they would prefer to ignore.

| | What is Bertolt Brecht's view of artistic accountability, and how does it differ from Oscar Wilde's autonomism? |

Brecht: The artist is accountable to the working class and must use art as a tool for political education and social change.
Wilde: Art is autonomous and accountable to no one; using art for political or moral education betrays the nature of beauty.

| | What are Bertolt Brecht's "alienation techniques" in Mother Courage and Her Children, and how do they serve his view of accountability? |

Techniques: Actors stepping out of character, songs interrupting action, and placards summarizing scenes.
Purpose: To prevent emotional immersion, forcing the audience to think critically about capitalism and war.

| | Compare Leo Tolstoy's moralist view of artistic accountability with the autonomist view. What is Tolstoy's test for genuine art? |

Tolstoy: Art is accountable to morality; genuine art must communicate moral feelings and promote human brotherhood.
Contrast: Unlike autonomists who value pure beauty, Tolstoy condemns masterpieces (like Beethoven) if they fail this moral test.

| | How does artistic accountability function in communal traditions, such as Aboriginal Australian painting? |

The artist is accountable to the community to represent shared stories and sacred designs accurately and respectfully.
Depicting sacred stories without authorization violates communal trust rather than being a valid exercise of individual freedom.

| | What is the concept of "accountability to posterity," and how do the cases of Van Gogh or Emily Dickinson support it? |

Posterity: The artist's primary responsibility is to future generations rather than contemporary audiences.
Support: Both artists were ignored or rejected in their lifetimes but vindicated as masterworks by later generations.

| | How does Simone de Beauvoir's existentialist ethics apply to artistic accountability, and how would she critique Surrealist depictions of women? |

Ethics: The artist is accountable for whether their work expands or shrinks human freedom.
Critique: Surrealist depictions of women as passive, eroticized objects treat them as things, failing to promote their freedom.

| | While Oscar Wilde argues that art is autonomous and accountable only to beauty, Jean-Paul Sartre advocates for littérature engagée, where the writer must engage with political struggles. | While Oscar Wilde argues that art is autonomous and accountable only to beauty, Jean-Paul Sartre advocates for littérature engagée, where the writer must engage with political struggles. |

1. Being human6 subtopics

2. Aesthetics3 subtopics

3. Epistemology3 subtopics

4. Ethics3 subtopics

5. Philosophy of religion3 subtopics

6. Philosophy of science3 subtopics

7. Political philosophy3 subtopics

8. Social philosophy3 subtopics

9. HL extension: Philosophy and contemporary issues3 subtopics

10. Prescribed philosophical texts12 subtopics

IB Philosophy 2.2.3 the Artist and Society Flashcards