Kurt Knecht
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Aesthetics: Aristotle, Ke$ha, flutes, and conductors

by Kurt Knecht | Sep 19, 2011 | Aristotle, conductors, flute, Ke$ha, Uncategorized

In Politics, there is a passage where Aristotle spends some time on what sort of music we should include in the education of children. He takes some wonderful pot-shots at the flute and flutists in general. Some of my favorite gems include: “…the flute is not an...

Aristotle and didacticism in art

by Kurt Knecht | Sep 5, 2011 | Aristotle, art, michael moore, Uncategorized

As usual, Aristotle follows Plato and suggests that the arts are about imitation. He suggests that humans are imitative by nature and delight in imitation. We even like to see the nasty bits imitated. In Poetics, he says that “though the objects themselves may be...

Aristotle and the masterpiece (part 2)

by Kurt Knecht | Aug 31, 2011 | Aristotle, Beethoven 5th, Grünwald, masterpiece, Uncategorized

Aristotle argues that in a “good work of art…it is not possible either to take away or to add anything” without in some way damaging it. Whenever I think about this, I always think of young Berlioz when he was working in the Biblioteque Nationale. He would check out...

The “bugger for the bottle” meets a toilet in a museum

by Kurt Knecht | Aug 30, 2011 | Aristotle, Cage, Duchamp, Uncategorized, Warhol

In book 2 of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle continues Plato’s line of thought aand suggests that the ideals of art are centered around proportion. “Thus a master of any art avoids excess and defect, but seeks the intermediate and chooses this – the intermediate not...

Recent Posts

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