Javad Amin Khandaqi

Since the beginnings of the history of philosophy, various perspectives have been proposed regarding the relationship between the moral value and aesthetic value of a work of art. The classification of these perspectives is of considerable importance in the study of art and ethics. Using a library-based data collection method and content analysis, this article examines and classifies the major perspectives on the relationship between art and morality within the context of Western philosophy. The findings indicate that these perspectives can be classified under three categories: autonomism, immoralism, and moralism, each of which comprises two positions: extreme and moderate. The most appropriate classification is based on “aesthetic relevance.” An examination of these perspectives indicates that moderate positions are more acceptable overall. Among moderate positions, moderate moralism is more persuasive, and among moderate moralists, Berys Gaut’s position, known as ethicism, is the most acceptable.

The relationship between art and morality is one of the most important questions in philosophy of art. “Moderate moralism”, as one of the contemporary approaches calaims that compared to other approaches it provides more appropriate explanation. In this paper, using library data collection and realistic analysis of content, the main theorists of moderate moralism (Carroll, Gaut and Kieran) and their perspectives and arguments are evaluated. The results of this study show that from a moderate moralist point of view, we can make a model for art criticism that considers other aesthetic values as well. The most important contrasts between radical moralist perspectives and moderate moralist perspectives are criterions of covering moral evaluation, using “insofar as principle” and “all things considered principle” and believing in plurality of art values. Also, moderate moralist perspectives have some divisions: Considering the criterions of covering moral evaluation, using “sometimes” or “always” arguments and using “an audience due to the moral features”. Evaluation of these three perspectives shows that the best is that of Gaut.

Abstracts Conventionally, "traditionalism" is as old as human history; because according to traditionalists’ claim, all the great traditions the world over have a common origin. One of the most important issues concerning art with which traditionalists have been concerned is defining and explaining such concepts like "traditional art", "sacred art" and "religious art". It is very important to investigate these concepts in order to understand the traditionalists’ theory about art. Based on content analysis and this documentary study, this paper explains and criticizes these concepts. The results of this study show that sacred art is a part of traditional art which is directly connected with religious rituals. However, due to the differences in form, religious art does not fall in to the province of traditional art. The criticism leveled at traditionalists' view concerning traditional, sacred and religious arts is that it not only brings some difficulties to traditionalists’ theory of art, but also represents a distortion of some of their theoretical foundations.

In discussions of the relationship between ethics and film, one important question is whether a film can be considered devoid of aesthetic value or aesthetically deficient on the grounds that it contains moral flaws. Various views on this question have been proposed from the time of Plato to the present. Among these views, moderate moralism, as a contemporary approach, claims to offer a more adequate account of the relationship between ethics and art than other positions. Using a documentary method and content analysis, this paper examines the position of moderate moralism. The findings indicate that the main differences between extreme and moderate forms of moralism concern the scope of moral evaluation, the use of the principles of “pro tanto” and “all things considered,” and the recognition of a plurality of values. Moderate moralist positions also differ from one another in terms of the scope of moral evaluation, their use of the qualifications “always” and “sometimes,” their methods of argumentation, and their reliance on the morally sensitive audience. An examination of three moderate moralist positions indicates that Gaut’s view is the most defensible among them.

One of the areas of interdisciplinary research on culture is the study of the relationship between religion and art. Among the religious movements, "Protestantism" has assumed especial importance due to its relation with the" religious reform movement". In this cultural context, "expressionism" represents one of the most important stages of the evolution of forms of art. Using a library-based method, this paper seeks to investigate the common aspects and relations between these two movements. The theoretical foundations were compared in the form of a case study with the movie “Dr. Calgary’s Work Room" (1920). The research results show that expressionism and Protestantism have common aspects in one general aspect and in three particular aspects. Thus, it is possible to give religious interpretations works of art. The interaction among religion, culture and art on the basis of an existential understanding of religion is the common aspect in this relationship. Moreover, the historical-cultural commonalities, an expressive element and a dark tension-making content in Expressionism the similar of which is found in Protestant theology, indicate the remarkable aspects of this relationship.

Farabi, “the Second Teacher” and the founder of Islamic philosophy is one of the most important philosophers in the history of Islamic philosophy. Like other Muslim philosophers and mystics, he has no independent argument about aesthetic concepts. In this research, one of the main concepts of modern aesthetics, namely the “aesthetic judgment”, is analyzed according Farabi’s perspective, and to achieving this, some of the key concepts of Kant’s aesthetics, as one of the turning points of modern aesthetics, are used. In this paper, concepts such as “second perfection”, in the philosophy of Farabi, and “the ideal of beauty” in Kant’s philosophy are evaluated and then new explanation is introduced of aesthetic judgment in Farabi. The results show that for Farabi the canonical art is that art which has some features, and leads audience toward true happiness. This canon corresponds to Kant’s definition of ideal beauty, and is made clear with combination of the aesthetic normal idea and the rational idea in the philosophy of Kant.

Farabi in the context of Islamic philosophy and Aquinas in the context of Christian philosophy both use the concept of "perfection" in the definition of "beauty". This research, using by the library collection, and qualitative analysis method, examines the beauty definitions and the concept of perfection in them. The results of this study shows that the two philosophers are similar in their definition of beauty and its grades. Farabi is more concerned with the concept of "perfection" in the definition of beauty, and instead Aquinas refers to "placent", "fit" and "Clarity" which is not explicitly mentioned in Farabi's definitions. Another important issue is linking beauty with holy trinity by Aquinas, which Farabi does not use in Islamic concepts. Also, while there are references to subjective beauty in Aquinas' philosophy, as a conclusion, we can say that beauty in the view of both philosophers is objective.

One of the important issues in the philosophy of art regarding the relationship between art and ethics is the relationship between aesthetic value and moral value in a work of art. Among the analytical philosophers of art, there was a trend that saw a positive relationship between the "moral value" and the "aesthetic value" of works of art. There is a new movement that presents a kind of new moralism for art's moral evaluation. This movement is a protest against “radical moralism” and also its supplement. In fact, radical moralism (also, known as "moralism", "extreme moralism" or "unlimited moralism") ignores all aesthetic values in favor of moral values. Noël Carroll formulated the first formulation of the moderate view (moderate moralism). As Carroll himself points out somewhere, "moderate moralism" is in fact a departure from his earlier view of "soft formalism." Based on "soft formalism," Carroll believed that although the moral aspect of a work of art was not related to its aesthetic aspect, there was no reason not to consider the moral element. Therefore, the work of art can be considered a better work due to the presence of "moral excellence" in it. In "moderate moralism," Carroll not only allows the moral evaluation of works of art but also seeks to prove the relationship between the moral aspect and the aesthetic aspect of the work of art. At the same time, Berys Gaut formulated the first version of his vision (ethicism). "Moderate moralism" and "ethicism" have in common that moral evaluation does not apply to all works of art and should be considered in relation to works for which such evaluation is possible. In the field of sampling for moral evaluation, Carroll turns to works of narrative, while Gaut discusses some of the other representative arts, and this leads to the "ethicism" introducing a wider range of works into moral evaluation. Both versions of the moderate view have been repeatedly criticized in various ways. Meanwhile, others have provided versions of moderate moralism. Among which only Matthew Kieran's view (most moderate moralism) is striking. From the point of view of moderate moralism, one can find a model for the moral evaluation of works of art that, in addition to the moral values of the work, also takes into account aesthetic values. This paper, using the library collection method, first, explains Carroll and Gaut moral evaluation models and then, evaluates and compares them. The results of this study show that the similarities between Carroll and Gaut's moral evaluation models are: a. Moral evaluation is not allowed in all kinds of arts; b. Using “insofar as" and “all things considered" principles; c. Believing in pluralism about the values of the work of art; d. Considering aesthetic values along with moral values; e. Provide an argument based on “the merited response argument”. Also, the differences between Carroll and Gaut's moral evaluation models are: a. from the perspective of inclusion of examples for moral evaluation, in descending order, Gaut (any work that has a moral aspect related to the prescribes of the work) and then Carroll (any work whose moral aspect is related to attracting the audience) are included; b. After the conditions are met, in Gaut's view "always", moral goodness/evil is considered aesthetic goodness/defect, but in Carroll's view "sometimes", moral goodness/evil is considered aesthetic goodness/defect; c. In Carroll's view, “an audience due to the moral features” plays a more important role than Gaut's. In general, Gaut's model is superior to Carroll's model for several reasons: a. It has a wider range; b. Contrary to Carroll's view, it is inconsistent with "moderate immoralism"; c. Unlike Carroll's view, it is more consistent with non-moderate moralist perspectives; d. The “an audience due to the moral features” has no key place in the argument; e. In formulating an argument, he uses "always" instead of "sometimes"; f. He Has more emphasis on the “insofar as" and “all things considered" principles; g. It is more in line with local perspectives. Proving and accepting the relationship between the moral and aesthetic aspects of the work can be the basis for entering into other topics such as justifying or rejecting censorship, how the moral impact of the work on the audience, how to legislate based on ethics in art and comparing moderate views with other philosophical and mystical views which were not reviewed in this article and are considered as the future of this article.

Kant organizes his analysis in terms of four moments of the judgment of taste, each of which is supposed to contribute something essential to the complete exposition of the beautiful in "Critique of Judgment". He, in the third moment, based on the key concept analysis of "purposiveness", reaches to the beauty definition "a purposiveness without a purpose" (subjective purposiveness). Below this moment, two concepts of "dependent beauty" and "the ideal of beauty" also arises that aesthetic judgment in both of them is based on an objective purposiveness and a concept indicating nature of the object and the perfection of the object that is considered as default for judgment. This default in dependent beauty is perfection of the object and in the ideal of beauty is a concept from the sum of the rational idea and the aesthetic normal idea, but this point of view is in contradiction with the principle of Kant's aesthetic, which judgment of the beautiful just relies on the subjective purposiveness. This article reviewing the concept of purposiveness and the type of subjective purposiveness in the ideal of beauty and dependent beauty, attempts to explain the aesthetic value of these concepts and their differences and similarities, and finally to determine the position of these two concepts in Kant's philosophy.