From: Glenn Bradford (gmbbradford@netscape.net)
Date: Fri Jan 10 2003 - 01:14:37 GMT
Greetings,
Not receiving mails from the list means that I have had to rely upon
the archives, which have a considerable time delay between posting and
appearance. *If* anyone has asked me to clarify/elaborate etc, the
chances are I will not know it for a while and so, obviously, have not
responded here.
Glenn has rightly shown me [in private email] that, by Horse's criteria,
I should provide some evidence that positivists attempt to upgrade art
or music rather than, as Horse spuriously alleges, attempting to degrade
art or music. I can do without the side-show. So here it is.
Horse seems only to be satisfied with direct quotations from the people
concerned so I will, once more, play along with his rules.
Auguste Comte is regarded by every philosophy text book I have ever
seen as the founder of 'positivism', indeed, he himself made this claim,
and so it seems only right that, out of a choice of many, I turn to him.
COMTE:
"The demolition of the ancient system by the negative philosophy was
extremely unfavourable to Art, in as far as it permitted it to have
none but fleeting inspirations, incompatible with all fundamental truth
of poetic conception . . . . The consequences of so unnatural a state
of things could not but be fatal, both to society and to Art, if it
were long protracted: and the evil effects are seen in the rule of the
men of letters, who are the offspring of the transition and the leaders
of the social revolution. We here find the necessary close of the
preparatory phase of the aesthetic element; for its incorporation with
the sociality of the modern age has thus been urged to excess; and the
time for reorganization has evidently arrived." (The Positive
Philosophy of Auguste Comte Volume III – Auguste Comte – Batoche Books
– 2000 – pg 207)
"When a stable and homogeneous and at the same time progressive state
of society shall have become established under the positive philosophy,
the fine arts will flourish more than they ever did . . . . . . etc" (
IBID pg 40)
"Art will enter largely into the social life of the Future, and will be
regarded as the most pleasurable and most salutary exercise of our
intellectual powers, because it leads them in the most direct manner to
the culture and improvement of our moral nature. . . . "(Catechism of
Positive Religion - Auguste Comte Hardcover - 304 pages Kelley, USA)
"When the conception of the Order of Nature has become generally
accepted in its full extent, the ordinary definition of Art will become
as comprehensive and as homogeneous as that of Science; and it will
then become obvious to all sound thinkers that the principal sphere of
both Art and Science is the social life of man." (A General View of
Positivism, translated by J H Bridges, Robert Speller and Sons, 1957;
Chapter 1)”
Comte was deeply concerned that art was being undermined and devalued
by the society in which he lived and saw positivism as the way to raise
it out of, as he saw it, degradation. Comte chose the term 'positivist'
rather than 'negativist' for a very good reason!
In the absence of any contrary evidence, I think this is sufficient to
establish the point that "positivists see their philosophy as upgrading
art".
Struan
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