Although what is meant by 'the arts' may itself be a topic of discussion, the field considered here includes, at the least, a broad field of literature, such as is encountered by the IB student in Group 1 of the Diploma programme, and the visual arts, music and theatre encountered in Group 6. The arts are diverse: their content, forms and methods are often dissimilar, and the understanding and appreciation of them may possibly be more subjective than objective. The following questions invite discussion of the ways in which the arts may affect individuals or groups, and the ways in which they embody and communicate knowledge.

Definition of the Arts

• What is the origin and nature of a sense of beauty? Is this sense specific to the individual or to the culture, or is it universal?
• Some languages have no generic word for 'the arts'. To what extent might the concept be a culturally relative one? To what extent, even within those languages which have a generic term, is the term 'the arts' elastic in definition?
• Do all the arts have features in common? What might these be?
• What roles do the arts play in people's lives? Are these roles unique to the arts?
• Are the arts a kind of knowledge, or are they a means of expressing knowledge? If the latter, what knowledge might they express?
• What are the implications of the following claim?

'Life is very nice but it lacks form. It's the aim of art to give it some.' (Jean Anouilh)

The Arts: Methods of Gaining Knowledge

• To what extent and in what ways might the arts be regarded as a representation of reality? What kinds of art might be seen as 'realistic'?
• What is the proper function of the arts: to capture a perception of reality, to teach or uplift the mind, to express emotion, to create beauty, to bind a community together or to praise a spiritual power? Are there functions omitted here? Do the various arts have the same functions?
• Is originality essential in the arts? Is the relationship between the individual artist and tradition similar in all cultures and times?
• In what ways does technology influence the arts? What, for example, might be lost or gained aesthetically by recycling visual images, or by composing music by computer?

The Arts and Knowledge Claims

• Does familiarity with an art form itself provide knowledge and, if so, of what kind? Knowledge of facts? Of the creator of the art form? Of the conventions of form? Of psychology or cultural history?
• Does art, or can art, tell the truth? If so, is artistic truth the same as truth in the context of the natural sciences, the human sciences, or history? How might the truth claims of art be verified or falsified?
• What are the implications of the following claims?

'Far from being engaged in opposing or incompatible activities, scientists and artists are both trying to extend our understanding of experience by the use of creative imagination subjected to critical control, and so both are using irrational as well as rational faculties. Both are explaining the unknown and trying to articulate the search and its findings. Both are seekers after truth who make indispensable use of intuition.' (Karl Popper)

• Is explanation a goal of the arts? How do the arts compare in this regard with other Areas of Knowledge?
• What did Frank Zappa mean when he claimed that ' Talking about music is like dancing about architecture'?

The Arts and Values

• How are value judgements in the arts justified? How is 'good art' recognized or decided on?
• What are the justifications and implications of claiming that there are absolute standards for good art, or that the only standard for good art is individual taste?
• Does the artist carry any moral or ethical responsibility? Is it possible for an artwork to be immoral? Should art be judged on its ability to shock?
• What is the role of education in creating art, and in appreciating it? Is an art form legitimate if it can be enjoyed only by those trained in its appreciation through having had relevant education or through having become familiar with it in their own cultural context? Is a critical assessment of an art form legitimate if it is made by someone with no relevant education or cultural familiarity?
• What relationships exist between the arts, on the one hand, and power over the public mind, on the other? Should art be politically subversive? Conversely, should it serve the interests of the community or the state? Why would governments, corporations, advertisers, and ideologically based groups of many kinds concern themselves with visual artists, musicians and writers?
• To what extent can one reasonably separate values in the arts from the definitions of the field, its methodologies and its knowledge claims?

The Arts and Knowledge Perspectives

• What knowledge of art can be gained by focusing attention on the artist? Can artists' intentions, and the creative process itself, be understood through observing artists or knowing something of their lives? Is the creative process as important as the final product, even though it cannot be observed directly? Are an artist's intentions relevant to assessing the work? Can a work of art contain or convey meaning of which the artist is oblivious?
• What knowledge of art can be gained by focusing attention solely on the work itself, in isolation from the artist or the social context? Can technical virtuosity in itself, a skilled mastery of the medium, be enough to distinguish a work of art? Are certain compositions, ways of structuring sounds or shapes, inherently more pleasing than others? Can a work be judged primarily by the harmony of form and content, the way in which structure and style work effectively to create or support the subject matter? Is the form of a work its true meaning?
• What knowledge of art can be gained by focusing on the reader or audience's response? Can it be plausibly argued that art is brought into being only in the response of the audience, that a work is created anew each time it is viewed, heard or read? What is the role of the critic in judgement of the worth of art? Are any of the following sufficient indicators of the value of a work: its popularity, its commercial value in the market, its universality in its appeal beyond its cultural boundaries, and/or its longevity?
• What knowledge of art can be gained by focusing attention on its social, cultural or historical context? To what extent do power relationships determine what art or whose art is valued? Is all art essentially a product of a particular place and time in terms of its subject matter and conventions of expression? Is art best seen as anthropological or historical documentation, bringing to life a remote society or era, but understood esoterically, only with independent knowledge of that remote life? Does art become obsolete? Is art understood more fully by emphasizing what all cultures have in common rather than by stressing what is unique to each?