Aesthetics - A way for encountering the world informed by Bernard Stiegler’s Technics and Time 4
Aesthetics - A way for encountering the world
informed by Bernard Stiegler’s Technics and Time 4
Author: Neil Peach
Aesthetics - Why?
This note on aesthetics, cum artistic judgement, cum artistic critique, cum sensibility, follows a long arc
in my interest.
I will explain my arc further but before doing that, it is important to explain why I would expend so much
interest on such an ‘esoteric’ issue at a time of so many more worthy/imminent issues arising in our
world. It is simple, for me at least, and that is - I believe that the core of aesthetics goes to the very issue
of how the human race may or may not deal with the issues confronting it in regard to politics, climate,
war, technology, work and so on. Therefore I connect [that area of human study and philosophy called
several things including] aesthetics with informing us, as human beings, on how we are best enabled
to deal with our very survival.
I conflate contemporary aesthetics with all manner of artistic critique and judgement on the basis that
it provides the widest and deepest way of us analysing our current circumstances. Why, because,
I believe that we have long privileged our human capacity for distilling our judgements, [so as to balance
our instincts and our reasons], and we have historically used aesthectic critique [maybe under different
guises] to assess those things that are most precious or meaningful to us.
And this leads to the next unusual perspective I take -I regard what has become known as ‘aesthetics’
And this leads to the next unusual perspective I take -I regard what has become known as ‘aesthetics’
in regard to issues of artistic and cultural pursuit, is closely related to those practices/skills/approaches
employed in contemporary sport, business and our personal live, as well as art and culture. My take on
this comes from the observation that, we hold dear and precious to us those things which are ‘on the
surface’ regarded as ancillary to the necessities of everyday life. How many of us spend a large
part of our life thinking about those things [hobbies, interests, sports, art, music etc] that we may
do for only a short time each week whilst doing those things that we feel circumstances require
us to do in order to survive. The ‘ancillary’ is disguised as such but provides us with the learning training
and use of human skills that are essential to our survival.
In simple terms, we as humans need’ to wake up to ourselves’ - what we do in a trance for most of the
In simple terms, we as humans need’ to wake up to ourselves’ - what we do in a trance for most of the
week is likely to cause the human race to destroy that which provides us with the scope to be here
[and to become]. It is difficult to avoid the contention that our way of life is in crisis on many fronts.
Such a time however, is when we are best at deciding what’s important and for years we have
practised using our highest skills and best judgements on the things we really feel passionate about.
It therefore follows that we need to apply what we have learned in this indirect way, in order to work
our way out of this crisis.
The rest of this article sets out how I have connected a series of learnings and experiences over a
The rest of this article sets out how I have connected a series of learnings and experiences over a
long period that supports my view that we must learn to enact aesthetics in order to confront the crisis t
hat besets our world.
My version of aesthetic analysis, which has borrowed heavily from others and particularly
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