Reading #2: Art and Bioethics: Shifts in Understanding Across Genres

Reading #3: The Relationship Between The Arts and Medicine

One view: Tolstoy’s polemical essay What is Art? (first published in 1897) argues that art is essentially moral, if not spiritual. Great art could only be created by someone who stands on a “level of the highest world outlook of his time.” It “should eliminate violence” and make accessible “feelings of brotherhood and love of one’s neighbor.”
Another view: ‘Art for Art’s sake' - morality is irrelevant to an assessment of the quality of the work of art as art
Is it appropriate to judge some works of art by moral standards?
Artwork can provoke and disturb; it can be superficial, manipulative, anxiety-provoking, or even traumatizing depending on the motives and the ways it is used.

Reading #4: Enhancing Participation in Social and Healthcare with Art-Based Methods - in the Crossroads of Open Practices and Ethical Boundaries

Stirs up personal beliefs, values, and morals due to what is depicted
Ethical dilemmas arise from the perception/interpretation of the artworks’ content or message
Provocative themes are captured in art (spirituality, sexuality, politics). It is part of the decision-making process people use when they view a work of art and decide if it is “good” or “bad.” The process of aesthetic judgment is a conceptual model that describes how people decide on the quality of artworks created and, for them individually or societally, makes an ethical decision about a certain work of art.
Does being considered scandalous or radical take away from experiencing or appreciating the art? Do our responses speak to the artist’s ethics or morality?
Has the definition of what is art changed over the last 100 years? Must the definition of ethics change as well?
Is there a relationship between morality and aesthetics in art? In other words, does a moral quality add to the aesthetic value of a work of art? Or do moral flaws expressed in a work of art detract from the work’s aesthetic values?
Artwork can purposely pursue or communicate a message that is controversial.

Consider the following: Artwork can purposely pursue or communicate a message that is controversial.

Week 1: Introduction: Exploring the Relationship Between Ethics and the Arts