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Natural Sciences

Natural Sciences

] Natural science is the study of the physical, nonhuman aspects of the Earth and the universe around us. Natural sciences generally attempt to explain the workings of the world via natural processes rather than divine processes. The term natural science is also used to identify science as a discipline following the scientific method, in contrast to natural philosophy, or in contrast with social sciences, which use the same scientific method applied to different subjects. Natural sciences form the basis for the applied sciences. Together, the natural and applied sciences are distinguished from the social sciences on the one hand, and from the humanities, theology and the arts on the other. Mathematics is not itself a natural science, but provides many tools and frameworks used within the natural sciences. Alongside this traditional usage, more recently the words "natural sciences" are sometimes used in a way more closely matching their everyday meaning, stemming from natural history. In this sense "natural sciences" can be an alternative phrase for biological sciences, involved in biological processes, or perhaps also the earth sciences, as might distinguished from the physical sciences (more directly involved in the study of physical and chemical laws underlying the universe). See :Category:Science for articles about the individual Natural sciences

Natural sciences

- Astronomy, the study of the stars, the cosmos, etc.
- Biology, the study of life.
- Ecology, the study of the interrelationships of life.
- Chemistry, the study of chemical reactions.
- Earth science, the study of earth and specialties including:
- Geology
- Science-based or Physical Geography
- Soil science
- Physics, the study of physical laws.

External links

- [http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/natscitripos/ Natural Sciences at Cambridge University]
- [http://hrst.mit.edu/ The History of Recent Science and Technology]
- [http://www.scibooks.org/ Reviews of Books About Natural Science] This site contains over 50 previously published reviews of books about natural science, plus selected essays on timely topics in natural science. Category:Science Category:Nature ko:자연과학 ja:自然科学 th:วิทยาศาสตร์ธรรมชาติ

Universe

The terms known Universe, observable Universe, or visible Universe are often used to describe the part of the Universe that we can see or otherwise observe. Those who believe it is impossible to observe the whole continuum may use our Universe, referring only to that knowable by human beings in particular.

Expansion and age, and the Big Bang theory

The most important result of cosmology, that the Universe is expanding, is derived from redshift observations and quantified by Hubble's law. Extrapolating this expansion back in time, one approaches a gravitational singularity, a rather abstract mathematical concept, which may or may not correspond to reality. This gives rise to the Big Bang theory, the dominant model in cosmology today. The age of the Universe was estimated to be about 13.7 billion (13.7 × 10⁹) years, with a margin of error of about 1 percent (± 200 million years), according to NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). However, this is based on the assumption that the underlying model used for data analysis is correct. Other methods of estimating the age of the Universe give different ages. A fundamental aspect of the Big Bang can be seen today in the observation that the farther away from us galaxies are, the faster they move away from us. It can also be seen in the cosmic microwave background radiation which is the much-attenuated radiation that originated soon after the Big Bang. This background radiation is remarkably uniform in all directions, which cosmologists have attempted to explain by an initial period of rapid inflation following the Big Bang.

Size of Universe and observable Universe

There is disagreement over whether the Universe is finite or infinite in spatial extent and volume. However, the observable Universe, consisting of all locations that could have affected us since the Big Bang given the finite speed of light, is certainly finite. The edge of the cosmic light horizon is 13.7 billion light years (4.19 gpc) distant. The present distance (comoving distance) to the edge of the observable Universe is larger, since the Universe has been expanding; it is estimated to be about 78 billion light years (7.8 × 10¹⁰ light years, or 7.4 × 10²³ km). This would make the comoving volume, of the known Universe, equal to 1.9 × 10³³ cubic light years (assuming this region is perfectly spherical). The observable Universe contains about 7 × 10²² stars, organized in about 100 billion galaxies, which themselves form clusters and superclusters. The number of galaxies may be even larger, based on the Hubble Deep Field observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope discovered galaxies such as Abell 1835 IR1916, which are over 13 billion light years from Earth. Both popular and professional research articles in cosmology often use the term "Universe" when they really mean "observable Universe". This is because unobservable physical phenomena are scientifically irrelevant; that is, they cannot affect any events that we can perceive. See also Causality (physics). We live in the centre of the Universe that we observe, in apparent contradiction to the Copernican principle which says that the Universe is more or less uniform and it has no distinguished centre. This is simply because light does not travel infinitely fast, and we make observations of the past. As we look further and further away, we see things from epochs (times) closer and closer to the limit of time, which equals zero, according to the Big bang model. Since light travels at the same speed in any direction towards us, it is reasonable to suggest that we live at the center of our observable Universe.

Shape of the Universe

An important open question of cosmology is the shape of the Universe. Mathematically, which 3-manifold represents best the spatial part of the Universe? Firstly, whether the Universe is spatially flat, i.e. whether the rules of Euclidean geometry are valid on the largest scales, is unknown. Currently, most cosmologists believe that the observable Universe is very nearly spatially flat, with local wrinkles where massive objects distort spacetime, just as a lake is (nearly) flat. This opinion was strengthened by the latest data from WMAP, looking at "acoustic oscillations" in the cosmic microwave background radiation temperature variations. Secondly, whether the Universe is multiply connected, is unknown. The Universe has no spatial boundary according to the standard Big Bang model, but nevertheless may be spatially finite (compact). This can be understood using a two-dimensional analogy: the surface of a sphere has no edge, but nonetheless has a finite area. It is a two-dimensional surface with constant curvature in a third dimension. The 3-sphere is a three-dimensional equivalent in which all three dimensions are constantly curved in a fourth. If the Universe is indeed spatially finite, as described, then traveling in a "straight" line, in any given direction, would theoretically cause one to eventually arrive back at the starting point. Strictly speaking, we should call the stars and galaxies "views" of stars and galaxies, since it is possible that the Universe is multiply-connected and sufficiently small (and of an appropriate, perhaps complex, shape) that we can see once or several times around it in various, and perhaps all, directions. (Think of a house of mirrors.) If so, the actual number of physically distinct stars and galaxies would be smaller than currently accounted. Although this possibility has not been ruled out, the results of the latest cosmic microwave background research make this appear very unlikely.

Fate of the Universe

Depending on the average density of matter and energy in the Universe, it will either keep on expanding forever or it will be gravitationally slowed down and will eventually collapse back on itself in a "big crunch". Currently the evidence suggests not only that there is insufficient mass/energy to cause a recollapse, but that the expansion of the Universe seems to be accelerating and will accelerate for the whole of eternity (see accelerating Universe). Other ideas of the fate of our Universe include the Big Rip, the Big Freeze, and Heat Death of the Universe theory. For a more detailed discussion of other theories, see the ultimate fate of the Universe.

Multiverse

There is some speculation that multiple universes exist in a higher-level multiverse (also known as a megaverse), our Universe being one of those universes (lower case). For example, matter that falls into a black hole in our Universe could emerge as a "Big Bang," starting another universe. However, all such ideas are currently untestable and cannot be regarded as anything more than speculation. The concept of parallel universes are understood only when related to string theory.

Other terms

Different words have been used throughout history to denote "all of space", including the equivalents in various languages of "heavens", "cosmos" and "world". Although words like world and its equivalents in other languages now almost always refer to the planet Earth, they previously referred to everything that exists—see Copernicus, for example—and still sometimes do (as in "the whole wide world"). Some languages use the word for "world" as part of the word for "outer space", e.g. in the German word "Weltall".

References

- Albert Einstein (1952). Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (Fifteenth Edition), ISBN 0-517-88441-0

External links

- [http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/index.html Richard Powell: An Atlas of the Universe] - a series of images at various scales, with explanations.
- [http://www.shekpvar.net/~dennis/Elib/Astronomicon/Astronomicon/Cosmos/cosmos.html Cosmos - an Illustrated Dimensional Journey from microcosmos to macrocosmos]
- [http://universe-review.ca/ A Review of the Universe - Structures, Evolutions, Observations, and Theories]
- [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/age_universe_030103.html Age of the Universe at Space.Com]
- [http://slate.msn.com/id/2087206/ My So-Called Universe] by Jim Holt, on various arguments for and against an infinite Universe and parallel universes
- [http://www.hep.upenn.edu/~max/multiverse1.html Parallel Universes] by Max Tegmark
- [http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~mjuric/universe/ Logarithmic Maps of the Universe]
- [http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ Seti@Home - the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence]
- [http://www.exploreuniverse.com/ic Universe - Space Information Centre ] by Exploreuniverse.com
- [http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/TopazMurray.shtml Number of Galaxies in the Universe] Category:Environments ko:우주 ms:Alam Semesta ja:宇宙 simple:Universe

Divine

The concept of the divine or of The Divine, meaning "matters relating to a god", forms an important ingredient in many religious faiths (but compare Buddhism, for example, or Scientology). It expresses the sacred nature of the monotheistic god(s) foundational to many of the world's religions, as well as the sacred nature of the various deities that form part of polytheistic religions such as Hinduism. 'The Divine' is also the abstract name which the fictional religion of Wayism worships. Compare deity, divinisation, sacred, spirituality.

External links

- [http://www.lulu.com/GregoryPreston Book on Divine Guidance] from lulu.com (Seeking Divine Guidance)

Additional uses

The transvestite entertainer born Harris Glen Milstead (1945 - 1988) used the stage name Divine . Category:Religious behaviour and experience

Category:Academic disciplines

Disciplines, studied in Academia. See List of academic disciplines. Category:Education Disciplines

Natural philosophy

Natural philosophy is a term applied to the objective study of nature and the physical universe before the development of modern science. In other words, all forms of science historically developed out of philosophy or more specifically natural philosophy. At older universities, long-established Chairs of Natural Philosophy are nowadays occupied mainly by professors of physics. In fact, our notions of science and scientists date only to the 19th century. Before then, the word "science" simply meant knowledge and the label of scientist did not exist. Natural philosophy was the term whose usage preceded our current term science in the sense that prior to the replacement of the term "natural philosophy" with the term science, the term science was used exclusively (and comparatively rarely) as a synonym for knowledge or study and when the subject of that knowledge or study was 'the workings of nature', then the term "natural philosophy" would be used. Robert Boyle wrote what is considered to be a seminal work on the distinction between nature and metaphysics called A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature. This book, written in 1686, marked the point where the scene was set for natural philosophy to turn into science. An important distinguishing characteristic of science and natural philosophy is the fact that natural philosophers generally did not feel compelled to test their ideas in a practical way. Instead, they observed phenomena and came up with 'philosophical' conclusions. Proposals for a much more 'inquisitive' and practical approach to the study of nature originated with Francis Bacon. Boyle, while he is the first to fully embrace such an approach in both his experimental endeavours and his writings, shares with Bacon (and Galileo who was the inspiration in these matters for both Bacon and Boyle) a conviction that practical experimental observation was the key to a more satisfactory understanding of nature than would have otherwise been sought through either exclusive reference to received authority or a purely speculative approach. Although Galileo's 'natural philosophy' is hardly distinguishable from science in many ways, the connection between his experiments and his writings about them is characteristically philosophical, rather than being cluttered with the results of meticulously recorded observational detail of practical scientific research, in the way that Boyle (subsequently) advocated. Despite Boyle describing what he was practicing as being Natural Philosophy, the very innovations that Boyle introduced (such as an insistence upon the requirement for publication of detailed experimental results, including the results of unsuccessful experiments and also a requirement for the replication of experiments as a means of validating observational claims) can be seen as a basis for delineating a transition from proto-science to science. However, deciding which side of the proto-science/science divide that you include the term 'natural philosophy'is largely determined by whether you treat Boyle's use of the term as being something he himself invalidated when he applied it to his own work (an anachronistic conflation which is removed by recognising that the distinction between the terms natural philosophy and science only arose (at the earliest) in the post-Newtonian era, after Boyle's passing, and once the term science was in regular use). Thus Boyle could describe his work as Natural Philosophy, whereas we could describe it as science, and yet Boyle's use would be correct (for him) despite the fact that he is in many ways the architect of the modern distinction between the two terms.

Category:Social sciences

]] The social sciences comprise the scientific study of the human aspects of the world. They are also known as social studies. See the list of academic disciplines for a list of social sciences, including some not yet categorized below.
Category:Science Category:Society Category:Society Category:Interdisciplinary fields Category:Academic disciplines Category:Human sciences Category:Environmental science zh-min-nan:Category:Siā-hōe kho-ha̍k ko:분류:사회과학 ja:Category:社会科学

Applied science

Applied science is the exact science of applying knowledge from one or more natural scientific fields to practical problems. It is closely related or identical to engineering. Applied science can be used to develop technology.

Reference

- [http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn?stage=1&word=applied+science applied science]; WordNet entry. Category:Applied sciences ko:응용 과학 ja:応用科学 th:วิทยาศาสตร์ประยุกต์

Social science

The social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that study the human aspects of the world. They diverge from the arts and humanities in that the social sciences emphasize the use of the scientific method and rigorous standards of evidence in the study of humanity, including quantitative and qualitative methods. The social sciences are also known pejoratively as the soft sciences in contrast to the hard sciences. Social science theories typically deal with aggregated, not individual, behavior.

Major fields

The main social sciences include:
- Anthropology
- Communication
- Economics
- Education
- History
- Geography
- Linguistics
- Law
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Cultural Studies
- Social Policy Not all institutions recognize these fields as social sciences. For example, communication, cultural studies and history may be classified as humanities depending on how they are taught, and in which country they are taught. Some disciplines have characteristics of both the humanities, social and natural sciences: for example some subfields of anthropology, such as biological anthropology, are closely related to the natural sciences whereas archaeology and linguistics are social sciences. Similarly diverse subjects like geography also traverse the natural and social sciences (e.g., geomorphology and historical geography are often taught in single departments of geography). Some social sciences may converge with certain fields from the natural sciences, and become interdisciplinary. Examples of such fields include sociobiology -- an interdisciplinary field drawing on sociology and biology.

History

In ancient philosophy, there was no difference between the liberal arts of mathematics and the study of history, poetry or politics—only with the development of mathematical proof did there gradually arise a perceived difference between "scientific" disciplines and others, the "humanities" or "liberal arts". Thus, Aristotle studies planetary motion and poetry with the same methods, and Plato mixes geometrical proofs with his demonstration on the state of intrinsic knowledge. This unity of science as descriptive remains, for example, in the time of Thomas Hobbes who argued that deductive reasoning from axioms created a scientific framework, and hence his Leviathan was a scientific description of a political commonwealth. What would happen within decades of his work was a revolution in what constituted "science", particularly the work of Isaac Newton in physics. Newton, by revolutionizing what was then called "natural philosophy", changed the basic framework by which individuals understood what was "scientific". While he was merely the archetype of an accelerating trend, the important distinction is that for Newton, the mathematical flowed from a presumed reality independent of the observer, and working by its own rules. For philosophers of the same period, mathematical expression of philosophical ideals was taken to be symbolic of natural human relationships as well: the same laws moved physical and spiritual reality. For examples see Blaise Pascal, Gottfried Leibniz and Johannes Kepler, each of whom took mathematical examples as models for human behavior directly. In Pascal's case the famous wager, for Leibniz, the invention of binary computation and for Kepler the intervention of angels to guide the planets. In the realm of other disciplines, this created a pressure to express ideas in the form of mathematical relationships. Such relationships, called "Laws" after the usage of the time (see philosophy of science) became the model which other disciplines would emulate. August Comte (1797-1857) argued that ideas pass through three rising stages, Theological, Philosophical and Scientific. He defined the difference as the first being rooted in assumption, the second in critical thinking, and the third in positive observation. This framework, still rejected by many, encapsulates the thinking which was to push economic study from being a descriptive to a mathematically based discipline. Karl Marx was one of the first writers to claim that his methods of research represented a scientific view of history in this model. With the late 19th century, attempts to apply equations to statements about human behavior became increasingly common. Among the first were the "Laws" of philology, which attempted to map the change overtime of sounds in a language. It was with the work of Darwin that the descriptive version of social theory received another shock. Biology had, seemingly, resisted a basis as a mathematical study, and yet the Theory of Natural Selection and the implied idea of Genetic inheritance - later found to have been enunciated by Gregor Mendel, seemed to point in the direction of a scientific biology based, like physics and chemistry, on mathematical relationships. With the early 20th century, a wave of change came to science that saw "statistical" study sufficiently mathematical to be "science". This application of statistics to physics would yield Quantum Dynamics and an increasingly statistical view of biology. The first thinkers to attempt to combine inquiry of the type they saw in Darwin with exploration of human relationships, which, evolutionary theory implied would be based on selective forces, were Freud in Austria and William James in the United States. Freud's theory of the functioning of the mind, and James' work on experimental psychology would have enormous impact on those that followed. Freud, in particular, created a framework which would appeal not only to those studying psychology, but artists and writers as well. One of the most persuasive advocates for the view of scientific treatment of philosophy would be John Dewey (1859-1952). He began, as Marx did, in an attempt to weld Hegelian idealism and logic to experimental science, for example in his "Psychology" of 1887. However, it is when he abandoned Hegelian constructs, and joined the movement in America called Pragmatism, possibly under the influence of William James' "Principles of Psychology" that he began to formulate his basic doctrine, enunciated in essays such as "The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy" (1910). This idea, base on his theory of how organisms respond, states that there are three phases to the process of inquiry: #Problematic Situation, where the typical response is inadequate. #Isolation of Data or subject matter. #Reflective, which is tested empirically. With the rise of the idea of quantitative measurement in the physical sciences, for example Lord Rutherford's famous maxim that any knowledge that one cannot measure numerically "is a poor sort of knowledge", the stage was set for the conception of the humanities as being precursors to "social science" was set. This change was not, and is not, without its detractors, both inside of academia and outside. The range of critiques begin from those who believe that the physical sciences are qualitatively different from social sciences, through those who do not believe in statistical science of any kind, through those who disagree with the methodology and kinds of conclusion of social science, to those who believe the entire framework of scientificizing these disciplines is solely, or mostly, from a desire for prestige and to alienate the public.

Rise

Theodore Porter argued in "The Rise of Statistical Thinking" that the effort to provide a synthetic social science is a matter of both administration and discovery combined, and that the rise of social science was, therefore, marked by both pragmatic needs as much as by theoretical purity. An example of this is the rise of the concept of Intelligence Quotient, or IQ, a test which produces a number which it is not clear what, precisely, is being measured, except that it has pragmatic utility in predicting success in certain tasks. The rise of industrialism had created a series of social, economic, and political problems, particularly in managing supply and demand in their political economy, the management of resources for military and developmental use, the creation of mass education systems to train individuals in symbolic reasoning and problems in managing the effects of industrialization itself. The perceived senselessness of the "Great War" as it was then called, of 1914-1918, now called World War I, based in what were perceived to be "emotional" and "irrational" decisions, provided an immediate impetus for a more "scientific" and easier to manage form of decision making. Simply put, to manage the new multi-national enterprises, private and governmental, required more data. More data required a means of reducing it to information upon which to make decisions. Numbers and charts could be interpreted more quickly and moved more efficiently than long texts. In the 1930s this new model of managing decision making became cemented with the New Deal in the US, and in Europe with the increasing need to manage industrial production and governmental affairs. Institutions such as The New School for Social Research, International Institute of Social History, and departments of "social research" at prestigious universities were meant to fill the growing demand for individuals who could quantify human interactions and produce models for decision making on this basis. Coupled with this pragmatic need was the belief that the clarity and simplicity of mathematical expression avoided systematic errors of holistic thinking and logic rooted in traditional argument. This trend, part of the larger movement known as Modernism provided the rhetorical edge for the expansion of social sciences.

Present state

There continues to be little movement toward consensus on what methodology might have the power and refinement to connect a proposed "grand theory" with the various midrange theories which, with considerable success, continue to provide usable frameworks for massive, growing data banks. See consilience.

Criticism

The social sciences are sometimes criticized as being “less scientific” than the natural sciences, in that they are seen as being less rigorous or empirical in their methods. This claim is most commonly made when comparing social sciences to fields such as physics, chemistry or biology in which direct experimentation and falsification of results is generally carried out in a more direct fashion. Social scientists refute such claims by pointing to the use of a rich variety of scientific processes, mathematical proofs, and other methods in their professional literature. Others, however argue that the social world is much too complex to be studied as one would study static molecules. The actions or reactions of a molecule or chemical substance are always the same when placed in certain situations. Humans, on the other hand, are much too complex for these traditional scientific methodologies. Humans and society do not have certain rules that always have the same outcome and they cannot guarantee to react the same way to certain situations. Another criticism is that social sciences tend to be compromised more frequently by politics, since results from social science may threaten certain centers of power in a society, particularly ones which fund the research institutions. (For example, in the US, corporations and the state are frequently cited as these centers of power.) Further, complexity exacerbates the problems, since observed social data may be the result of factors which are hard to evaluate in isolation.

Reference

The beginnings of the social sciences in the eighteenth century are reflected in the grand encyclopedia of Diderot, with articles from Rousseau and other pioneers. The growth of the social sciences is also reflected in its specialised encyclopedias. The older editions are therefore of strong historical interest while the newest reflects current discussions, methodologies and ideologies.
- 1934, Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
- 1968, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
- 2001, International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences / ed.-in-chief Neil J. Smelser; Paul B. Baltes, Amsterdam [etc.] : Elsevier, 2001-

External links

- [http://www.dialogical.net/socialsciences/index.html Social Science Virtual Library]
- [http://xlab.berkeley.edu UC Berkeley Experimental Social Science Laboratory]
- [http://www.sosig.ac.uk Social Science Information Gateway] (UK) Category:Humanities occupations ko:사회 과학 ja:社会科学 th:สังคมศาสตร์

Humanities

The humanities (sometimes called Human Studies) are a group of academic subjects united by a commitment to studying aspects of the human condition and a qualitative approach that generally prevents a single paradigm from coming to define any discipline. In academia, the humanities are generally considered to be, along with the social sciences and the natural sciences, one of three major components of the liberal arts and sciences. While the precise definition of the humanities can be contentious, the following disciplines are generally recognized to form their core:
- Literature, literary criticism, and comparative literature
- Philosophy
- The Classics:
- Ancient Greek
- Latin
- The study of religion
- Law and Jurisprudence
- Art, art history, art criticism, and theory
- Music and Musicology
- Cultural and Area studies
- Regional interdisciplinary fields such as East Asian studies, American studies, and African-American studies (Interdisciplinarity) History, while also considered at times a social science, is one of the most prominent humanities in the United States as measured by foundation contributions, National Endowment for the Humanities projects, and National Humanities Centers fellowships. Some expand the definition to include other studies of human life using qualitative description and analysis, including at large parts of the following fields:
- Cultural anthropology
- Sociology
- Political science
- Archaeology
- Some branches of economics The 1980 United States Rockefeller Commission on the Humanities described the humanities in its report, The Humanities in American Life: : Through the humanities we reflect on the fundamental question: What does it mean to be human? The humanities offer clues but never a complete answer. They reveal how people have tried to make moral, spiritual, and intellectual sense of a world in which irrationality, despair, loneliness, and death are as conspicuous as birth, friendship, hope, and reason. Scholars working in the humanities are sometimes described as humanists, but this can be confusing, as it also describes a philosophical position (humanism) which some antihumanist scholars in the humanities reject.

Weblinks

- [http://homepage.uibk.ac.at/~c720126/humanethologie/ws/medicus/block1/inhalt.html Theory of Human Sciences (Documents No. 8 and 9 in English)] ko:인문 과학 ja:人文科学

Theology

Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, "God", + λογος, logos, "word" or "reason"). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. A theologian is a person learned in theology. religious topics

History of the term

The word "Theology" is derived from Hellenistic Greek, but its meaning has changed significantly through its use in the European Christian thought of the Middle ages and Enlightenment The term theologia is used in Classical Greek literature, with the meaning "discourse on the gods or cosmology" (see Lidell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon for references). Since the authority of Hellenistic city states was partly based on religious observance, those who first sought to ask difficult questions about the gods were often viewed as heretics, or in the language of the day "atheists". Socrates is famous for having been condemned to death for teaching youths atheism (though in fact he had not). Plato, his pupil, wrote several discourses on the gods, though his doctrine of forms and emanations would be more significant for later Theology. Aristotle divided theoretical philosophy into mathematice, phusike and theologike, with the latter corresponding roughly to metaphysics, which for Aristotle included discussion of the nature of the divine. The term has since been appropriated by a number of Eastern and Western religious traditions. Drawing on Greek sources, the Latin writer Varro influentially distinguished three forms of such discourse: mythical (concerning the myths of the Greek gods), rational (philosophical analysis of the gods and of cosmology) and civil (concerning the rites and duties of public religious observance). Christian writers, working within the Hellenistic mould, began to use the term to describe their studies. It appears once in some biblical manuscripts, in the heading to the book of Revelation: apokalupsis ioannou tou theologou, "the revelation of John the theologos". There, however, we are probably dealing with a slightly different sense of the root logos, to mean not "rational discourse" but "word" or "message": ho theologos here is probably meant to tell us that the author of Revelation has presented God's revealed messages – words of God, logoi tou theou – not that he was a "theologian" in the modern English sense of the word. Other Christian writers used the term with several different ranges of meaning. # Some Latin authors, such as Tertullian and Augustine followed Varro's threefold usage, described above. # In patristic Greek sources, theologia could refer narrowly to the discussion of the nature and attributes of God. # In other patristic Greek sources, theologia could also refer narrowly to the discussion of the attribution of divine nature to Jesus. (It is in this sense that Gregory Nazianzus was nicknamed "the theologian": he was a staunch defender of the divinity of Christ.) # In medieval Greek and Latin sources, theologia (in the sense of "an account or record of the ways of God") could refer simply to the Bible. # In scholastic Latin sources, the term came to denote the rational study of the doctrines of the Christian religion, or (more precisely) the academic discipline which investigated the coherence and implications of the language and claims of the Bible and of the theological tradition (the latter often as represented in Peter Lombard's Sentences, a book of extracts from the Church Fathers). It is the last of these senses which lies behind most modern uses (though the second is also found in some academic and ecclesiastical contexts), and while the term "theology" can refer to any discussion of the nature of God or the gods, or indeed the discussion of any religious topic, it is also regularly used to denote the academic study (in Universities, seminaries and elsewhere) of the doctrines of Christianity, or of any other religion, or of the relationships and contrasts between various different religions, although the latter is a field more usually termed "comparative religion."

A brief history of "Theologies"

::Main article: History of theology Classical Greek theology (c.700 BC to 323 BC). Various forms of systematic and philosophical reflection on Ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology arose in the classical period - from Hesiod's attempts to organise the diverse materials of mythology into a unified Theogony to the more properly philosophical analysis reportedly carried out by Socrates. Plato's Timaeus and Aristotle's Metaphysics Book Lambda are two of the most influential writings of Classical Greek theology. Hellenistic theology (323 BC to 529 AD). Philosophical reflection on the gods, on religion, and on the origins and governance of the Universe, flourished in the Hellenistic period amongst both Greek- and Latin-speaking thinkers. Amongst the very diverse movements of Hellenistic philosophy in which theological reflection could be found were Cynicism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Middle Platonism, and Neoplatonism. Influential texts include Cleanthes' Hymn to Zeus, Cicero's de Natura Deorum, Lucretius' de Rerum Natura, Epictetus' Enchiridion, and Plotinus' Enneads. Hellenistic theology, which could be deemed to last until the suppression of the Athenian Academy in 529 by Justinian I, overlaps with early Jewish and early Christian theology (see below), and several strands of thought important particularly to early Christian thought arise within Hellenistic circles: attempts to explain the apparent caprice of the gods, Atheism, the development of monotheism, the idea of God as first cause or form of the Good, the dualism of spirit and matter in humanity, and redemption (the release of the spirit from its material prison to a higher spiritual world) through knowledge. See also Greek mythology - Hellenistic rationalism and Ancient Greek religion - Theology Early Jewish theology (to c.200 AD). Two strands of Jewish theology develop in this period. On the one hand, there are those oral traditions of Rabbinic exegesis (Midrash) and legal discussion (Mishnah) that eventually began to be written down towards the end of the 2nd Century AD. Important figures include Gamliel I, Yohanan ben Zakkai, Gamliel II, Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Judah haNasi. On the other hand, there is the attempt to accommodate traditional Jewish exegesis of the Jewish Scriptures and tradition with Greek philosophy - a strand of thought of which Philo is the best known proponent. The destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD and the dispersion of many Jews from Israel had a profound effect on Jewish Theology. Early Christian theology, coming partly from Hellenistic Judaism, therefore had no trouble in expressing itself in the Greek language (i.e. the New Testament). Whilst the conception of a canon of sacred books was inherited from Judaism, their interpretation soon came to be heavily influenced by Greek allegorical methods (e.g. Origen). Origen" during the long decline of the Roman Empire]] Patristic Theology (c. 100 – 500 AD) is so called because certain men (Fathers or "Patroi") concerned themselves with determining the degree to which the Christian faith could be accommodated to Hellenistic thought. Irenaeus of Lyons wrote to combat those who made Christianity into Gnostic Theology. Justin Martyr sought to use Hellenistic philosophy and Natural Theology to justify Christianity to the Romans. Later Theologians especially sought to show how three divine persons could be one in substance (the Trinity, see Council of Nicea) and how Jesus (a man of material flesh, see Council of Chalcedon) could at also be divine. These statements though held to be philosophically illogical were nevertheless held to be true, human reason being incapable of understanding them. This was an important development that would define the Theology of the Middle Ages in Islam as well as Christianity. Important theologians were Athanasius, Gregory of Nazanzius, Gregory of Nyssa, Origen, Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome. The fall of the Roman empire affected Theology in two main ways; Firstly monasticism became more popular and ascetic, and mystical theology therefore became more prevalent. Secondly, the increasing influence of the Bishop of Rome (The Pope) in theological doctrine and cultural differences between the two remnants of the Roman empire caused the doctrine of apostolic succession to be more important. The two sides finally split in 1054. The collapse of the Roman Empire meant that most Theology occurred in Monasteries with few of the resources of classical scholarship available. Over time many local variations in Theology developed and the traditions of pre-Christian religions were sometimes included in Theology as well as practice. Likewise, in the East, (Greece and the Levant) Theology became increasingly influenced by speculative neo-Platonism. The epistle of Dionysius the Areopagite was a popular guide with such ideas. Many monks came to emphasize the idea of the inherent evil of the world. Islam established itself in this atmosphere and began also to practice Theology. Although Islam is often considered to lack a "Theology" as in Christianity there were many attempts to frame Islamic ideas within Greek thought, especially during the early abbassids and the reign of the caliph al-mamun. However, this movement, Mu’tazilism, became discredited through the Abassids attempts to use it to enforce religious unity, and the popular and orthodox considered Hellenistic thought to be unhelpful and error. Theology would continue to be practiced, but was usually done so by an elite of intellectuals whose ideas would seldom be made public. These included Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Averroes, Avicenna and Al-Ghazali. High Medieval theology in Western Europe combined the Theology inherited from Dark-age monasticism with new learning from classical Hellenistic documents from the Islamic world. Thomas Aquinas, Anselm, John Duns Scotus and Peter Abelard were among the most important Theologians of this period. Peter Abelard]] The Renaissance yielded scholars the ability to read the scriptures in their original languages and this in part stimulated the Reformation, a Theological movement that based its "Protests" on a new understanding of the Bible. Most important were Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli, Melancthon, Martin Bucer and the Anabaptists. Their Theology was developed by successors such as Theodore Beza, the English Puritans and Francis Turretin. The Catholic counter-reformation spearheaded by the Jesuits under Ignatius Loyola took their Theology from the decisions of the Council of Trent. The overall result of the Reformation was therefore to highlight distinctions of belief that had previously co-existed uneasily. The fall of Constantinople in the east, 1453, led to a significant shift of gravity to the rising state of Russia, the "Third Rome". The Renaissance would also stimulate a program of reforms by patriarchs of prayer books. A movement called the "Old believers" consequently resulted and influenced Russian Orthodox Theology in the direction of conservatism and Erastianism. After the Reformation protestant groups continued to splinter, leading to a range of new Theologies. The "Enthusiasts" were so named because of their emotional zeal. These included the Methodists, the Quakers and Baptists. Another group sought to reconcile Christian faith with "Modern" ideas, sometimes causing them to reject beliefs they considered to be illogical, including the Nicene creed and Chalcedonian creed. these included Unitarians and Universalists. The Nineteenth Century saw the rise of biblical criticism, new knowledge of religious diversity in other continents and above all the growth of science. This led many church men to espouse a form of Deism. This, along with concepts such as the brotherhood of man and a rejection of miracles led to what is called "Classic Liberalism". Immensely influential in its day, classic liberalism suffered badly as a result of the two world wars and fell prey to the criticisms of postmodernism.postmodernism Theologian]] Postmodern theology seeks to respond to the challenges of post modern and deconstructionist thought, and has included the death of God movement, Process Theology, Feminist theology and Queer Theology and most importantly Neo-orthodox Theology. Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann and Reinhold Niebuhr were Neo-Orthodoxies main representatives. In particular Barth labeled his Theology "Dialectical Theology", a reference to existentialism. The predominance of Classic Liberalism resulted in many reactionary movements amongst conservative believers. Evangelical theology, Pentecostal or Renewal theology and Fundamentalist theology, often combined with Dispensationalism, all moved from the fringe into the academy. Marxism stimulated the significant rise of Liberation Theology which can be interpreted as a challenge to Academic Theology that fails to challenge the establishment and help the poor. From the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth many groups established themselves that derived many of their beliefs from protestant evangelical groups but significantly differed in doctrine. These include the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Latter Day Saints and many so called "cults". Many of these groups use the protestant version of the bible and typically interpret it in a fundamentalist fashion, adding, however, special prophecy or scriptures, and typically denying the trinity and the full deity of Jesus Christ. Ecumenical Theology sought to discover a common consensus on theological matters that could bring the many Christian denominations together. As a movement it was successful in helping to provide a basis for the establishment of the World council of churches and for some reconciliation between more established denominations. But ecumenical theology was nearly always the concern of liberal theologians, often protestant ones. The movement for ecumenism was opposed especially by fundamentalists and viewed as flawed by many neo-orthodox theologians. The pattern of challenge from a changing world, liberal response from official representatives and orthodox backlash from conservatives is found also in the history of Islam and Judaism. Reform Judaism represents a liberal interpretation as against Orthodox Judaism, and moderate or Liberal Islam continues to be theologically distinct from Islamic Fundamentalism, notably its Wahabi and Deobandi Schools. As other religions came to be studied in Western post Christian academies the term Theology was applied to them, though, as noted below, this may be a serious misnomer!

Theology and religions other than Christianity

In academic theological circles, there is some debate as to whether theology is an activity peculiar to the Christian religion. If so we should distinguish Christian Theology from others. It is seen by some to be a term only appropriate to the study of a deity (a theos) within a presupposed belief in the ability to speak and reason about the subject (in logia) - and so to be less appropriate in religious contexts which are organized differently (i.e. religions without a deity, or which deny that such subjects can be studied logically). reason For example, some academic courses on Buddhism which are dedicated to the rational investigation of a Buddhist understanding of the world prefer the designation Buddhist philosophy to the term Buddhist theology, since Buddhism lacks the same conception of a theos. The same might be said of Hinduism which has many devas (deities). See for example, Vaishnava Theology, Advaita Vedanta and Hinduism#Nature of God. Moreover, the application of the term Theology to religions similar to Christianity can be misleading. in Islam, theological discussion which parallels Christian theological discussion has been a minor and even slightly disreputable activity, named "Kalam"; the Islamic analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be the investigation and elaboration of Islamic law, or "Fiqh". In Judaism the historical absence of political authority has meant that most theological reflection has happened within the context of the Jewish community and synagogue, rather than within specialised academic institutions. Nevertheless Jewish Theology has been historically very active and highly significant for Christian and Islamic Theology. Once again, the Jewish analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be Rabbinical discussion of Jewish law and Jewish Biblical commentaries.

Theology and the Academy

Theology has a significantly problematic relationship to Academia that is not shared by any other subject. Most universities founded before the modern era grew out of the church schools and monastic institutions of Western Europe during the High Middle Ages (e.g. University of Bologna, Paris University and Oxford University). They were founded to train young men to serve the church in Theology and Law (often Church or Canon Law). At such Universities Theological study was incomplete with Theological practice, including preaching, prayer and the Mass. Ancient Universities still maintain some of these links (e.g. having Chapels and Chaplains) and are more likely to teach Theology than other institutions. During the High Middle Ages theology was therefore the main subject at universities, being named "The Queen of the Sciences" alongside the Trivium and Quadrivium that young men were expected to study. This meant that the other subjects (including Philosophy) existed primarily to help with theological thought. With the Enlightenment universities began to change, teaching a wide range of subjects, especially in Germany, and from a Humanistic perspective. Theology was no longer the principle subject and Universities existed for many purposes, not only to train Clergy for established churches. Theology thus became unusual as the only subject to maintain a confessional basis in otherwise secular establishments. As a result theology is often distinguished from many other established Academic disciplines that cover the same subject area. Those who contend it is different claim it is distinguished by its viewpoint (it is studied from within a faith, rather than from without) and its practical involvement (theology cannot be truly studied or understood without a practical faith). Many of the early Church Fathers described the theologian as a person who "truly prays.". Non-religious theologians often disagree with these viewpoints, arguing that the term theology covers the study of religion or peoples' beliefs about God, rather than God himself. They also argue that human reason alone is sufficient to understand such subjects and that prayer and worship are not necessary. Nevertheless theology should be distinguished from the following disciplines; Comparative religion/Religious studies Philosophy of Religion The History of Religions Psychology of Religion Sociology of Religion All of these approach religion with humanistic presuppositions and assume a uniformity in religious faith and experience, unlike most theology.

Theological studies in different institutions

In Europe, the traditional places for the study of theology have been universities and seminaries. Typically the protestant state churches have trained their ministers in universities while the Catholic church has used seminaries. However, the secularization of European states has closed down the theological faculties in many countries while the Catholic church has increased the academical level of its priests by founding a number of pontifical universities. However, at least Finland and Sweden have state universities with faculties of theology training Lutheran priests as well as teachers and scholars of religion. As study of theology in these countries includes a strong (Christian) humanist content, graduates of theology who do not wish to embark on clerical career may find work also in marketing, business or administration, although this is frowned upon by many. In the United States, study of theology does not enjoy state endorsement due to the nature of the constitution of United States. Theological studies (often called Biblical studies) take place in a large number of universities, the academic level of which may vary considerably. The academic freedom of thought in many of these institutions may not reach the level of the faculties of theology in European state universities. Theologians ending up with view deemed "heretical" by the denomination upholding the institution may find themselves out of work.

Divisions of theology

Theology can be divided up in any number of ways. Many of these divisions have originated in the study of the Christian religion, although some have been adapted and extended to apply to other religions, or to the study of multiple religions. The most established distinctions are Systematic Theology, Biblical Studies/Biblical Theology, Historical Theology and Pastoral Theology. Theology can also be divided up into : Academic subdisciplines;
- Biblical Theology - focused on the investigation and interpretation of a religions' scriptures, especially noting different emphases (theologies) within different biblical books.
- Biblical Studies - focused on the interpretation and exegesis of the Bible.
- Comparative religion - focused on the comparison of common themes among different religious traditions
- Historical Theology - focused on the intellectual history of the religion
- Moral Theology - explores the moral and ethical dimensions of the religious life
- Patrology - studies the teaching of Church Fathers.
- Practical Theology - dedicated to the practical application of theological insights. Generally includes the subdisciplines of pastoral theology, homiletics, and Christian education, among others.
- Systematic theology (doctrinal theology, dogmatic theology or philosophical theology) - focused on the attempt to arrange and interpret the ideas current in the religion. Topic (or by 'Loci');
- Angelology (less common than it used to be) - angels, the unseen world
- Bibliology (a less common term than most of the others) - the Bible, the nature and means of its inspiration, etc.; hermeneutics is the study of proper biblical interpretation (exegesis).
- Christology (normally only in Christianity) - Jesus Christ, the nature of Christ, the relationship between the divine and human in Christ
- Covenant theology, an interpretive grid that understands God's plans in the Old and New Testaments as being a result of God's covenant with his chosen people. This movement is an alternative to Dispensationalism.
- Demonology (much less common than it used to be) - Satan, demons, evil spirits
- Dispensational Theology - an interpretative grid that views God's relationship with the created order as passing through successive "dispensations", in each of which the covenants of the previous one(s) may no longer be valid.
- Ecclesiology - the church
- Eschatology - literally, the study of 'last things' or 'ultimate things'. Covers subjects such as death and the afterlife, the end of history, the end of the world, the last judgment, the nature of hope and progress, etc.
- Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology - the Vaishnava Theology which emphasizes the devotee's relationship to the "Divine Couple," Radha and Krishna, and looks to Caitanya Mahaprabhu as an avatar embodying both Radha and Krishna.
- Harmatiology (often considered under 'soteriology') - sin
- Krishnology - the discourse concerning the Hindu deity Krishna within the context of Vaishnava Theology.
- Missiology (often a subsection of ecclesiology) - missions, evangelism, etc.
- Radhavallabha Theology is the Vaishnava Theology of Harivamsa Gosvami, who started the Radhavallabha sect. His theology emphasizes devotion to Radharani. This sect also has a famous temple in Vrindavan of the same name.
- Soteriology - the nature and means of salvation
- Theodicy - Attempts at reconciling the existence of all the evil and suffering in the world with the nature and power of the God or gods of the religion
- Theological anthropology - nature of human being, formerly known as the Doctrine of Man.
- Theology Proper - God or the divine: attributes, nature, and relation to the world. Often includes discussion of Creation and providence. See the nature of God in Western theology.
- Pneumatology - the Holy Spirit or divine Spirit; sometimes also 'geist' as in Hegelianism and other philosophico-theological systems;
- Vaishnava Theology is the theological discourse concerning the Hindu deity Vishnu and/or one of His avatar. Modes;
- Apophatic theology (or negative theology; sometimes contrasted with "cataphatic theology") - the discussion of what God is not, or the investigation of how language about God breaks down
- dialectical theology
- Natural theology - the discussion of those aspects of theology that can be investigated without the help of revelation, scriptures or tradition (sometimes contrasted with "positive theology") - the discussion of those aspects of theology Movements;
- Black theology
- Ecumenical theology
- Evangelical theology
- Feminist theology
- Holocaust theology(In response to the horrors of the Holocaustespecially in relation to Theodicy,
- Liberal theology
- Liberation theology
- Neo-Orthodoxy
- Paleo-Orthodoxy
- Postliberal theology or Narrative theology
- Postmodern theology
- Queer Theology
- Revisionist theology
- Transcendental Theology

Quotes

- "Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing." - H.L. Mencken
- "An authentic theology will not allow man to be obsessed with himself." - Thomas F. Torrance in Reality and Scientific Theology
- "Theology announces not just what the Bible says but what it means." - J. Kenneth Grider in A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology (Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 1994), p. 19.

External links

- [http://catholicapologeticsofamerica.blogspot.com Catholic Apologetics of America] (Roman Catholic)
- [http://swami-center.org/en/text/Theology.html General Theology — the Science about God] (New Age)
- [http://www.monergism.com/systematic.html Monergism: Systematic Theology] (conservative Calvinist)
- [http://www.geocities.com/dbusnipe/subjective_truth/theological.htm Theological Links] (Humor)
- [http://www.theopedia.com Theopedia] (conservative Calvinist)
- [http://www.theowiki.com/index.php/Main_Page TheoWiki] (InterFaith)
- [http://wesley.nnu.edu/ Wesley Center for Applied Theology] (Wesleyan/Holiness)
- [http://gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/ The Wesleys and their Times] (Wesleyan/Methodist)
- ja:神学 simple:Theology

Art

Art (or the creative arts) commonly refers to the act and process of making material works (or artworks) which, from concept to creation, hold a fidelity to the creative impulse —ie. 'art' is work distinct from creative work that is driven by necessity (ie. vocation), by biological drive (i.e. procreation), or (in art-purist contexts) by any undisciplined pursuit of recreation. The creative arts essentially denotes a collection of disciplines whose principal purpose (or sole purpose) is in the output of material whose creation is compelled by a personal drive —untainted by materialist, gratuitous, or wanton concerns—and echoing or reflecting a message, mood, and symbology for the viewer to interpret. As such, the term 'art' may be taken to include forms as diverse as prose writing, poetry, dance, acting, music (both performance and creation), sculpture and painting. In common parlance, 'art' is most commonly used to refer to the visual arts —in particular painting, drawing, and sculpting.
Etymology
The word art derives from the Latin ars, which, loosely translated, means "arrangement" or "to arrange". This is the only universal definition of art, that whatever is described as such has undergone a deliberate process of arrangement by an agent. A few examples where this meaning proves very broad include artifact, artificial, artifice, artillery, medical arts, and military arts. However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymological roots.
Currently recognized forms of art
There are a variety of arts, including visual arts and design, decorative arts, plastic arts, and the performing arts. Artistic expression takes many forms, painting, drawing, sculpture, music, literature, performance art, printmaking, film, and possibly architecture are the most widely recognised forms. However, since the advent of modernism and the technological revolution, new forms have emerged. These include, photography, comics, video art, installation art, conceptual art, land art, computer art and, most recently, video games. Within each form, a wide range of genres may exist. For instance, a painting may be a still life, a portrait, a landscape and may deal with historical or domestic subjects. In addition, a work of art may be representational or abstract. Most forms of art fit under two main categories: fine arts and applied arts, though there is no clear dividing line. In the visual arts, fine arts refers to painting, sculpture, and architecture, arts which have no practical function and are valued in terms of the visual pleasure they provide or their success in communicating ideas or feelings. The one exception is architecture, which involves designing structures that strive to be both attractive and functional. The term applied arts is most often used to describe the design or decoration of functional objects to make them visually pleasing. Artists who create applied arts or crafts are usually referred to as designers, artisans, or craftspeople.
Defining art
There is often confusion about the meaning of the term art because multiple meanings of the word are used interchangeably. Individuals use the word art to identify painting, as well as singing.
General characteristics of art
There follow some generally accepted characteristics of art; after this there is some lengthier discussion of several of those facets perceived as universal or central to art:
- encourages an intuitive understanding rather than a rational understanding, as, for example, with an article in a scientific journal;
- was created with the intention of evoking such an understanding, or an attempt at such an understanding, in the audience;
- elusive, in that the work may communicate on many different levels of appreciation; one may take the example of Gericault's Raft of the Medusa, in the case of which special knowledge concerning the shipwreck the painting depicts is not a prerequisite to appreciating it, but allows the appreciation of Gericault's political intentions in the piece;
- in relation to the above, the piece may offer itself to many different interpretations, or, though it superficially depicts a mundane event or object, invites reflection upon elevated themes;
- demonstrates a high level of ability or fluency within a medium; this characteristic might be considered a point of contention, since many modern artists (most notably, conceptual artists) do not themselves create the works they conceive, or do not even create the work in a conventional, demonstrative sense (one might think of Tracey Emin's controversial My Bed);
- the conferral of a particularly appealing or aesthetically satisfying structure or form upon an original set of unrelated, passive constituents.
Skill
Art can connote a sense of trained ability or mastery of a medium. It can also simply refer to the developed and efficient use of a language so as to convey meaning, with immediacy and or depth. A common view is that the epithet 'art' (particular in its elevated sense) requires a certain level of creative expertise by the artist, whether this be a demonstration of technical ability (such as one might find in many works of the Rennaisance or in the plays of Shakespeare) or an originality in stylistic approach, or a combination of these two. For example, a common contemporary criticism of some modern painting occurs along the lines of objecting to the apparent lack of skill or ability required in the production of the artistic object. One might take Emin's My Bed or Hirst's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, as examples of pieces wherein the artist exercised little to no traditionally recognised sets of skills. It should be noted that this is for varying reasons: in the first case, Emin simply slept (and engaged in other activities) in her bed before simply placing the result in a gallery; in the second, Hirst came up with the conceptual design for the artwork, and left its eventual creation to employued artisans. These approaches are exemplary of a particular kind of contemporary art, that being conceptual art. The exclusionary view that art requires a certain skill level to produce is often described as a lay critique and derives from the fact that in Western culture at least, art has traditionally been pushed in the direction of representationalism, the literal presentation of reality through literal images. On the other hand, criticism has often been brought to bear on modern artists for having no creative involvement whatsoever in their creations: one might take Hirst's work again as emblematic of this approach.
Judgments of value
Somewhat in relation to the above, the word art is also used to apply judgments of value, as in such expressions as "that meal was a work of art" (the cook is an artist), or "the art of deception," (the highly attained level of skill of the deceiver is praised). It is this use of the word as a measure of high quality and high value that gives the term its flavor of subjectivity. Making judgments of value requires a basis for criticism: at the simplest level, a way to determine whether the impact of the object on the senses meets the criteria to be considered art, whether it is perceived to be attractive or repellent. Though perception is always colored by experience, and thus a reaction to art on these grounds is necessarily subjective, it is commonly taken that that which is not aesthetically satisfying in some fashion cannot be art. However, "good" art is not always, or even regularly, aesthetically appealing to a majority of viewers. In other words, an artist's prime motivation need not be the pursuit of the aesthetic, and art often depicts terrible images made for social, moral, or thought-provoking reasons; for example, Francisco Goya's painting depicting the Spanish shootings of 3rd of May 1808 is a graphic depiction of a firing squad executing several pleading civilians, yet at the same time, the horrific imagery demonstrates Goya's keen artistic ability in composition and execution, and his fitting social and polical outrage. Thus the debate continues as to what mode of aesthetic satisfaction, if any, is required to define'art'. It should also be noted that the assumption of new values or the rebellion against accepted notions of what is aesthetically superior need not occur concurrently with a complete abandonment of the pursuit of that which is aesthetically appealing. Indeed, the reverse is often true, that in the revision of what is popularly conceived of as being aesthetically appealing allows for a re-invigoration of aesthetic sensibility, and a new appreciation for the standards of art itself. Countless schools have proposed their own ways to define quality, yet they all seem to agree in at least one point: once their aesthetic choices are accepted, the value of the work of art is determined by its capacity to transcend the limits of its chosen medium in order to strike some universal chord, or by the rarity of the skill of the artist, or in its accurate reflection in what is termed the zeitgeist.
Communicating emotion
Art appeals to human emotions. It can arouse aesthetic or moral feelings, and can be understood as a way of communicating these feelings. Artists have to express themselves so that their public is aroused, but they do not have to do so consciously. Art explores what is commonly termed as the human condition; that is, essentially, what it is to be human, and art of a superior kind often brings about some new insight concerning humanity (not always positive) or demonstrates a level of skill so fine as to push forward the boundaries of collective human ability. This is not to say that technical skill is a necessary prerequisite of art, but rather that a high degree of skill goes some way in conferring a judgement of high standard upon an artist or artwork.
Creative impulse
From one perspective, art is a generic term for any product of the creative impulse, out of which sprang all other human pursuits — such as science via alchemy, and religion via shamanism. The term 'art' offers no true definition besides those based within the cultural, historical and geographical context in which it is applied. Though to the artists themselves, the impulse to create is undeniable; an artist can no more deny that impulse than he/she could ignore breathing (one might compare Kandinsky's inner necessity to this popular view). It is because of the overbearing need to create, in the face of financial ruin, public obscurity or political opposition, that artists are typically conceived of as unstable, even crazy, or misguided.
Differences in Defining Art
Definitions of art and aesthetic arguments usually proceed from one of several possible perspectives. Art may be defined by the intention of the artist as in the writings of Dewey. Art may be seen as being in the response/emotion of the viewer as Tolstoy claims. In Danto's view, it can be defined as a character of the item itself or as a function of an object's context.
Plato
For Plato, art is a pursuit whose adherents are not to be trusted; given that their productions imitate the sensory world (itself an imitation of the divine world of forms) art necessarily is an imitation of an imitation, and thus is hopelessly far from the source of the truth. Plato, it may be noted, barred artists from access to his ideal city, in his Republic.
Aristotle
Aristotle saw art in less of a bad light; though he shared Plato's poor opinion of it, he nevertheless thought that art might serve a purpose in catharthis. That is, by witnessing the sufferings and celebrations of actors onstage onlookers might viacriously experience these same feelings themselves, and thereby purge such negative feelings.
Institutional definition
Many people's opinions of what art is would fall inside a relatively small range of accepted standards, or "institutional definition of art" (George Dickie 1974). This derives from education and other social factors. Most people did not consider the depiction of a Brillo Box or a store-bought urinal to be art until Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp (respectively) placed them in the context of art (i.e., the art gallery), which then provided the association of these objects with the values that define art. Most viewers of these objects initially rejected such associations, because the objects did not, themselves, meet the accepted criteria. The objects needed to be absorbed into the general consensus of what art is before they achieved the near-universal acceptance as art in the contemporary era. Once accepted and viewed with a fresh eye, the smooth, white surfaces of Duchamp's urinal are strikingly similar to classical marble sculptural forms, whether the artist intended it or not. This type of recontextualizing provides the same spark of connection expected from any traditionally created art. It should be noted, however, that Duchamps act might be as readily interpreted as a demonstration of the (not always beneficial) power of artistic institutions, rather than the universal art potentially inherent in all objects. It should also be noted that the placement of an object in an artistic context is not taken as a universal standard of art, but is a common characteristic of conceptual art, prevalent since the 1960s; notably, the Stuckist art movement criticises this tendency of recent art.
Related Issues

Social criticism
Art is often seen as belonging to one social class and excluding others. In this context, art is seen as a high-status activity associated with wealth, the ability to purchase art, and the leisure required to pursue or enjoy it. The palaces of Versailles or the Hermitage in St. Petersburg with their vast collections of art, amassed by the fabulously wealthy royalty of Europe exemplify this view. Collecting such art is the preserve of the rich. However, there is a (not always deliberate) tradition of artists bringing their vision down to earth, and inhabiting a mundane, even poverty stricken, world. The life of Vincent van Gogh is a classic example of this starving artist tradition, as is that of William Blake. It hardly needs to be mentioned, however, that few find such a state of existence desirable, and (bearing in mind that "poverty" in this sense also connotes a certain lack of public approval or appetite) that one of the near-defining characteristics of artists is a desire to be seen universally, if not always to be understood. Before the 13th century in Europe, artisans were considered to belong to a lower caste, since they were essentially manual labourers. After Europe was re-exposed to classical culture during the Renaissance, particularly in the nation states of what is now Italy (Florence, Siena), artists gained an association with high status. However, arrangements of "fine" and expensive goods have always been used by institutions of power as marks of their own status. This is seen in the 20th and 21st century by the commissioning or purchasing of art by big businesses and corporations as decoration for their offices.
The Issue of Utility
There are many who ascribe to certain arts the quality of being non-utilitarian. This fits within the "art as good" system of definitions and suffers from a class prejudice against labor and utility. Opponents of this view argue that all human activity has some utilitarian function, and these objects claimed to be "non-utilitarian" actually have the rather mundane and banal utility of attempting to mystify and codify unworkable justifications for arbitrary social hierarchy. It might also be argued that non-utilitarian is, in this context, a mis-usage; that art is not in and of itself, useless, but rather that it particularly use does not manifest itself in any traditionally demonstrable way (though advances in neuroscience may arguably enable the isolation of those assocaited cortexes of the brain concerned with the creation or appreciation of art). Art is also used by clinical psychologists as art therapy. The end product is not the principal goal in this case; rather a process of healing, through creative acts, is sought. The resultant piece of artwork may also offer insight into the troubles experienced by the subject and may suggest suitable approaches to be used in more conventional forms of psychiatric therapy. The "use" of art from the artist’s standpoint is as a means of expression. When art is conceived as a device, it serves several context and perspective specific functions. From the artist’s perspective it allows one to symbolize complex ideas and emotions in an arbitrary language subject only to the interpretation of the self and peers. In a social context, it can serve to soothe the soul and promote popular morale. In a more negative aspect of this facet, art is often utlisied as a form of propaganda, and thus can be used to subtly influence popular conceptions or mood (in some cases, artworks are appropriated to be used in this manner, without the creator's initial intention). From a more anthropological perspective, art is a way of passing ideas and concepts on to later generations in a (somewhat) universal language. The interpretation of this language is very dependent upon the observer’s perspective and context, and it might be argued that the very subjectivity of art demonstrates its importance in providing an arena in which rival ideas might be exchanged and discussed, or to provide a social context in which disparate groups of people might congregate and mingle.
History of Art
The term 'art history' typically refers to a historical examination of the various trends of the visual arts through certain periods of human history. It may also be taken to encompass a study of the theories of art, which may or not not include an examination of their historical context. See main article: Art history
Symbols
Much of the development of individual artist deals with finding principles for how to express certain ideas through various kinds of symbolism. For example, Vasily Kandinsky developed his use of color in painting through a system of stimulus response, where over time he gained an understanding of the emotions that can be evoked by color and combinations of color. Contemporary artist Andy Goldsworthy, on the other hand, chose to use the medium of found natural objects and materials to arrange temporary sculptures. See main article: Symbols
See also

- Aesthetics, the philosophy of beauty
- Art criticism
- Art groups
- Art history
- Art sale
- Art school
- Art styles, periods and movements
- Art techniques and materials
- Art theft
- Artist
- Definition of music
- Applied art
- Fine art
- Modern art
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