Art and Meaningful Action

In his 1795 essay On the Aesthetic Education of Man, the poet and philosopher of art Friedrich Schiller complains that “utility is the great idol of the age”. He was concerned that society had begun to focus exclusively on those pursuits that are quantifiable at the expense of those which are less so — like art. Over the course of the essay, which is really a book-sized collection of letters addressed to his new patron who will be funding his artistic work, he makes a heartfelt and convincing case for the importance of art in society.This trend that Schiller was concerned with seems as present as ever in our modern society.

Today, there is a clear value placed on those skills which most directly affect the ‘bottom line’ and art is certainly not considered to be one of them. Today, in our age of information overload, ideological political pundits, fake news, deceiving headlines, and a well-publicized “divided” society, art may be the most promising remedy for our problems.

It should be more evident today than ever that a more intense barrage of “facts” and “news” is insufficient to inspire sensible action and cohesion amongst the population. There seems to be something missing amongst the modern clutter. We have more talking points than we could have ever dreamed of, but we seem to be either completely unable to muster the energy to act meaningfully or we are so passionately devoted to our dogmatic ideological positions that we are irrational — blindly rejecting the perspective of the other half the world.