Aesthetics: is the science that studies our feeling towards things, and towards this feeling, it concerns the interpretation of the aesthetic pleasure that arises when we receive aesthetic issues (listening, reading, viewing); that is, the interaction of our senses with the beautiful thing. This science also deals with the study of the aesthetic concept and standards.
In previous stages, aesthetics was concerned with studying art and artistic beauty. Hegel defined aesthetics as "the science of sensation and feeling," which is a general definition that does not reveal the true nature of the science and is limited to generalization.
Aesthetics is one of the sciences that we should pay attention to and make it a tool for our research and work. Beauty is any magnificent creation that creates an aesthetic pleasure in our souls, and it is not limited to art and artistic production. With the development of the world, human knowledge, and practical and scientific capabilities, aesthetics had to evolve to be an effective tool in serving humanity and society.
Today, aesthetics is an urgent need in the midst of the chaos of ideas and images, so that we can export morals and issues to society with a beautiful content. We can also identify the basic standards that enable us to manufacture beautiful things.
As Gaston Bachelard said, "How can we have a future without remembering the past?"
The past is the primary factor in shaping the present and understanding the future. It is one of the fundamental pillars in the equation of our lives, as well as in the lives of civilizations and societies
(past = present = future).
We must be aware of the importance of knowing and studying the past in order to be able to change the present, and therefore change the future.
In the field of aesthetics, we must truly understand the past and the history of beauty in ancient civilizations, and how beauty standards and criteria have changed over time and within different human civilizations. Therefore, the past and history serve as a compass that will guide us and give us direction towards which we must move in order to continue the progress of science in general and aesthetics in particular. This is what we will briefly review.
Has beauty remained constant, or has it changed?
Human history has proven that beauty is changeable and subject to several elements that have been studied and investigated. In ancient times, beauty standards were consistent with the culture and civilizations of the people. Some cultures preferred fair skin, while others preferred dark skin, and some cultures considered eye color to be an important factor in beauty. This is an example of the changing standards of beauty among humans."
The evolution of the arts is an important indicator of the evolution of the standards that cause aesthetic pleasure or wonder. If we go back to the Stone Age or shortly after, we find that artistic beauty and creativity in that era was represented by engravings on rocks of animals and humans.
Their drawings on rocks were the artistic beauty of that era.
If we look at the arts in the following eras, we find that beautiful art and artistic production have developed and artists have become more precise in their work, producing more advanced and technically advanced paintings and arts.
There are several issues that play an important role in our feelings and perception of things:
The first issue is ignorance and knowledge: Beauty is primarily linked to knowledge and perception, as it is impossible to say that a French poem is beautiful if we do not master French as a first condition.
As it is known, the Arabs did not prefer green and blue eyes, and they say that they resemble the eyes of jinn; the reason for this goes back to the rarity of these eyes among the early Arabs.
Therefore, the first requirement for perceiving beauty and feeling it is the initial knowledge of it or a related subject.
Those who do not know the meaning of the words of pre-Islamic poetry do not understand its meaning, and therefore they do not see it as beautiful even though it is the school of Arabic poetry and the most excellent of what has been written in it.
The second issue is that we are not aesthetically neutral: We are subject to the effects of social environment and cultural heritage that affect our interaction with beautiful issues. Therefore, we cannot assert that there is something beautiful in itself when our ignorance and knowledge are what make our perception of it non-neutral.
As our psychological state, personal traits, and physiology can all play an important role in our aesthetic feelings.
The Third Issue: The Ideal Example
Humans often view the ideal example as having perfect qualities and attributes, and they try to imitate and follow their ways and steps, even when it comes to beauty. Human beauty has been associated in many stages of history with aristocratic classes and their attempts to imitate them in dress and adornment. They also created a standard for beauty in their era, which applies to literature and the arts. What this class liked was popular in other classes. But today, in the age of globalization, there are many channels of influence that create the ideal example in different forms through media and social networking.
Let's delve a little into the Islamic artistic personality that reflects the Islamic perspective, which sees Islam as embodying beauty in arts and literature. The Muslim artist is characterized by several key qualities: they are talented, ethical, and committed.
Firstly: The Talented Person:
Talent is a gift that God grants to a person, so that their senses become more refined, their emotions heightened, and their insight penetrates deeper. It is an innate ability, but it is also a "gift".
As Professor Mohammed Qutb said:
"The artist is a talented person with a special sensitivity, who can capture the subtle rhythms that other people's devices cannot detect, and has a special expressive ability to turn these rhythms into a beautiful performance that evokes emotions and moves the sense of beauty within the viewer."
Secondly: The Balanced Person:
This is a person who is balanced in all aspects of their life. Balance makes an individual a positive contributor in all fields and in all directions, because harmony dominates their life. Before becoming an artist, one must be a balanced person who has a complete understanding of the universe, humans, and life.
Thirdly: Commitment:
When talking about commitment, it is important to distinguish it from obligation. Commitment is a direction that arises from the artist's freedom, where they choose that path out of their own will and desire, expressing their artistic freedom. Obligation, on the other hand, is a political or social position taken by a group or party, which is then imposed on those under its control. If an artist in this situation works out of their own conviction, they are committed; if they work out of coercion and force, they are obliged.
Muslims have been concerned with beauty and art in all regions and territories, developing arts that are unique to them, and mainly based on their comprehensive Islamic perspective on life. They organize poetry and create in literature and arts that are consistent with this view they have adopted as a way of life.
The arts flourished during the Umayyad and Abbasid eras and in Andalusia, and there was a spontaneous change in the poetic themes in the first centuries of Islam, consistent with the new perspective. Therefore, the Muslim artist is the artist who unleashes their creativity and grows freely from their deep faith in their comprehensive view of the universe.
By: Maher Daaboul
References:
The History of Beauty, George Vigarello, Center for Arab Unity Studies.
Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, Frederick Hegel, Dar Al Hikma Library.
Aesthetics of Image, Gaston Bachelard, Enlightenment for Printing and Publishing.
Islamic Art: Commitment and Creativity, Saleh Ahmed Al-Shami, Dar Al-Qalam.
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