Comparison Between Artistic Modernism and Philosophical Idealism

Artistic modernism is pigeon-holed by the considered withdrawal from tradition and the use of innovation that differentiate styles in the arts of the late nineteenth and the twentieth century. During this period, there was interest to express ideas and feelings using new materials and paints hence modernism. The idea was not to represent what is real but instead create fantasies and abstractions. In the artistic modernism, the audience needs to observe carefully so that they can understand some facts before making judgments concerning the work. Modernism was motivated by various political and social agendas (Searle and Streng 14). Modernism was commonly allied to ideal visions of people life and society as well as a belief in progress. While on the other hand, philosophical idealism was foreseen by some facets of seventeenth-century philosophy. However, it is usually discussed as a movement mainly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The philosophical idealism scrutinizes the association between epistemological idealism and ontological idealism. Where, epistemological idealism is the opinion that the fillings of human knowledge are ineluctably dogged by the edifice of human thought, and ontological idealism is the opinion that epistemological idealism conveys truth since reality itself is a form of thought and human thought partakes in it.
Before the 19th century, Artists used to make artwork for the wealthy patrons and institutions. The Art portrayed mythological or religious scenes envisioned to inculcate the viewers.

During this time, Artist began to make arts about ideas, places, people and anything else that interested them provided they had a direct experience with them (Berkeley, et al. 23). This challenged the idea that art must faithfully portray the world. Therefore, the Artists were able to use their ideas in subconscious mind, dreams and symbolism to portray subjective experiences. Eventually, artists were able to advance their work to modern route hence artistic modernism. Likewise to Philosophical idealism, in the earlier period idealism was only assigned a reality separate and sovereign of man’s existence. That is, only notions can be recognized or have any reality. Therefore nothing outside human’s mind can claim justification. Objects only exist as people perceive them since they were not built of an independently existing matter. Physiological idealism suggests the superhuman mental action of some sort and assigns sovereign reality to definite principles, such as creativity, a force for good, or an unconditional truth (Sell 19).
Philosophical idealism claims that reality is not independent of the mind, but instead it is dependent upon the mind. Meaning, the fundamental nature of all reality constitutes the thoughts and ideas of a mind. Extreme forms of idealism refute that any world exists outside of human minds. Also, another physiological idealism claims that human understanding of reality reflects the workings of the mind first. Thus the possessions of items have no standing autonomous of the minds perceiving them (Sell 41). Therefore, if there is an exterior world, humans cannot recognize it because what humans can recognize is the mental constructs by their minds which they can attribute to an exterior world. On the other hand, artistic modernism depiction of human nature never took place in the context of nature but instead took place in the context of the city (Berkeley, et al. 36). At the beginning of 19th century, the Romantics idealized nature as proof of the transcendent presence of God. However, towards the end of 19th century, the city became symbol and chaotic. Nature became irrelevant since the city supplants nature as the life force. Eventually, Art takes into technology and creativity. Thus embracing the creativity of the mind and the artwork that comes out of art whether representing the real world or not.
Works Cited
Berkeley, G., et al. The principles of human knowledge, and Three dialogues between Hylas and Philonous. World Pub. Co, 1963.
Searle, Y., and I. Streng. Where analysis meets the arts: The integration of the arts therapies with psychoanalytic theory. Karnac Books, 2001.
Sell, A. P. Philosophical idealism and Christian belief. University of Wales Press, 1996.