Aesthetics and ethics in public art

Character style as an aesthetic value in virtue ethics:

AEPA is based around Virtue Ethics, also know as Arteaic Ethics, which concerns itself with ethical theories that emphasize the virtues of mind and character.[1]

Slote argues that Virtue Ethics “put a greater emphasis on the ethical assessment of agents and their (inner) motives and character traits than it puts on the evaluation of acts and choices....” [2] (Slote, M. 1992 in Slote, S. 2013, p.2) "...ethics does not concern the value of specific, individual acts but rather the temperament of the individual who performs specific acts under specific and contingent circumstances.”[3] (Slote, S. 2013, p.3)

He goes on to borrow from Alasdair MacIntyre who asserts that the Greek word ethikos “means ‘pertaining to character’ where a man’s character is nothing other than his set dispositions to behave systematically in one way rather than another…”[4] (MacIntyre, A. 2007 in Slote, S. 2013, p.3) Slote therefore argues that, “ethics is thus a matter of individuation or self fashioning, a question of personal style, of personal disposition, and thus an aesthetic concern” (Slote, S. 2013, p.3)

This concept of the aesthetics of ethics, ethics being a character style of the individual; ties in well with Aristotle’s position on ethics, that it is an individual’s virtues that help them balance emotion and reason around a mid point leading toward an action, “What is responsible for whether these emotions occur in accord with reason, or in opposition to it, is states of character; things like courage, temperance, cowardice, intemperance.”[5] (Aristotle, Eudemian Ethics EE 1220b11 in Aristotle Poetics. trans Kenny A. 2013. p.xxiii)

Kenny in his introduction to Aristotle’s Poetics explains that things such as courage, temperance, liberality and intellect are virtues [6](2013. p. x) and that these “virtues are abiding states, and thus differ from momentary emotions like anger and pity.”[7] (Kenny, A. in Aristotle Poetics. p. xxiii) Kenny also goes on to explain that for Aristotle, ‘virtue choses the mean, or middle ground.’[8] (Kenny, A. in Aristotle Poetics. p. xxiii) Hence one can see here the importance for Aristotle of the role of virtue, the role of abiding character states in guiding emotion and reason toward a mid point of action, “We may have too many fears or too few fears, and courage [an Aristotelian virtue] will enable us to fear when fear is appropriate and be fearless when it is not.”[9] (Kenny, A. 2013. P. xxiv)

What I would like to do now though is bring in Nietzsche’s position on Virtue Ethics, in order to contrast it with an aspect of Aristotle’s virtue ethics.

Solomon & Higgins say that Virtue Ethics in Nietzsche’s ethical thought, “is an approach in which personal character…is the primary focus…Nietzsche’s ethical outlook directed renewed attention to the character and integrity of the individual, his or her virtues….Nietzsche’s style and its many variations, tell us what is perhaps the single most important virtue in the Nietzschean canon –‘giving style to one’s character.”[10] (Solomon & Higgins, 2000, pp. 177 – 181) So one can see here again a repetition of the idea put forward by Slote and Aristotle of a virtue being described as a character type, a style –what it is that drives your way of being and acting in the world -and how this way of being can be construed as an aesthetic style that informs the way you act in the world.

“Style, the heart of Nietzsche’s ‘new values’, should not be conceived as a ‘superficial virtue…It is not just a way of ‘dressing’ oneself, a way of talking or acting….It reflects an essential ‘inner’ drive, sometimes expressed by Nietzsche in terms of the instincts…”[11] (Solomon & Higgins, 2000, p.196)

But the key difference between Aristotle and Nietzsche’s virtue ethics, is that while for Aristotle, ‘virtue choses the mean, or middle ground.’[12] (Kenny, A. in Aristotle Poetics. p. xxiii); for Nietzsche “the core of virtually all virtues…begins with exuberance, a ‘yes saying’ to life, enthusiasm, ‘overflowing …abundance’…..”[13] (Solomon & Higgins, 2000, p.185) Solomon extrapolates further on these themes saying, “Nietzche’s take on these virtues is very different from Aristotle’s, beginning, perhaps, with his rejection of the ‘criterion of the mean’ and the Athenian insistence on ‘moderation’….[instead] the centrality of ‘overflowing’ and abundance is the key to this new ethics. Nietzsche uses such terms and images all through his works…these terms suggest…exuberance, passion, eros, or what Nietzsche often, in the philosophical style of the century, calls ‘life’….If Nietzsche has a metaphysics... it would be a very modern metaphysics, a metaphysics of energy…It would be a dynamic metaphysics…” [14] (Solomon, 1999, pp. 33 – 35)

What I would like to do now is combine the virtue ethics of Nietzsche and Aristotle; into a new type of affirmative virtue ethics; one that combines the character style of an underlying exuberant, life affirming ‘yes saying’ mindset put forward by Nietzsche; with the character style of Aristotle’s ‘criterion of the mean’ where virtue guides emotion and reason toward a balanced and considered action. First though I would like to pick up on one aspect of Nietzsche’s virtue ethics; in that when I talk about the key virtue of exuberance I would push against the idea that it is an instinct that is somehow inherently a part of you; and push more toward the idea that being exuberant, being life affirming, saying yes, can be informed by a conscious mental decision to engage in the world in this way.

Therefore in essence what I am asking for is that when an individual engages in the world, that they have an underlying positive mindset and a willing energy to engage this mindset with the world (in the model of Nietzsche). This would mean that when they engage in a decision making process prior to acting; when they try and balance other parts of their character -other styles, other virtues- alongside emotion and reason in search of a balanced outcome (in the model of Aristotle); that underneath this search for a balanced outcome would be the positive mindset and positive mental and bodily energy of Nietzsche’s life affirming ‘yes saying,’ tingeing the balanced outcome and resulting action toward the affirmative.

The ethical dimension of art and aesthetics:

So having established aesthetics as a link between virtue ethics and character style, in this case combining an underlying exuberance tempered by a balanced outcome; I would now like to assert more directly the link between art and ethics by referring to Jeffrey Dean on Aristotle,

“But more recently there has been a renewed interest in what is commonly referred to as “virtue ethics”. In the tradition of Aristotle, virtue ethics focuses more on the long-term development of moral agency-including character, moral emotions, and the perception of salient details of particular moral contexts-than on finely tuned general principles intended to entail impartial outcomes in particular cases. The difference in approaches is sometimes cast as between an ethics of obligation vs. an ethics of character. This shift dovetails nicely with the recent efforts in aesthetics, since one element central to Aristotelian ethics is precisely what engagement with art has long been claimed to provide: a means to imaginative perception, feeling, and understanding.”[15] (Dean J, 2002)

Here I would argue in relation to my own public art installations, that their simplistic minimalist aspect in conjunction with the fact that they’re in a public space where someone’s personal head space is interrupted, means that there is room for a personal, reflective & inter-subjective response; as well as the possibility of the sign having an immediate emotional impact on the viewer; either one affecting the way someone thinks, feels and acts in the world.

Aesthetics and ethics in public art:

In this sense the street art installation ‘Affirmative 1’[16] places the key Nietzschean exuberant character style in the form of a ‘yes saying’ –ALWAYS YES- in the heart of a local community. In doing so Hadfield hopes to influence through the affect of the symbols and signifiers of these Street Signs the way people balance their other character styles, with emotion and reason, toward a more affirmative engagement with the world around them. ‘Affirmative 1’ is therefore the first installation carried out in relation to AEPA as defined in this article as, “the insertion of character styles in a public space through the use of symbols and signifiers, in order to affect the way people engage with their other internal character styles, alongside emotion and reason, leading to different outcomes as to the way they pursue actions in the world.”

[1] Slote, S (2013), Joyce’s Nietzschean Ethics, New York: Palgrave Macmillan

[2] Slote, M (1992), From Morality to Virtue, in Joyce’s Nietzschean Ethics. Slote, S 2013. p.2 New York: Palgrave Macmillan

[3] Slote, S (2013), Joyce’s Nietzschean Ethics, New York: Palgrave Macmillan

[4] MacIntyre, A (2007), After Virtue, in Joyce’s Nietzschean Ethics. Slote, S 2013. p.3 New York: Palgrave Macmillan

[5] Aristotle, Eudemian Ethics (EE1220b11) in Aristotle Poetics. trans Kenny A. 2013. p.xxiii Oxford: Oxford University Press

[6] Kenny, A (2013) Introduction in Aristotle Poetics. trans Kenny, A. p.x. Oxford: Oxford University Press

[7] Kenny, A (2013) Introduction in Aristotle Poetics. trans Kenny, A. p.xxiii. Oxford: Oxford University Press

[8] Kenny, A (2013) Introduction in Aristotle Poetics. trans Kenny, A. p.xxiii. Oxford: Oxford University Press

[9] Kenny, A (2013) Introduction in Aristotle Poetics. trans Kenny, A. p.xxiv. Oxford: Oxford University Press

[10] Solomon R C & Higgins K M (2000), What Nietzsche Really Said, pp. 177 – 181, New York: Random House

[11] Solomon R C & Higgins K M (2000), What Nietzsche Really Said, p. 196, New York: Random House

[12] Kenny, A (2013) Introduction in Aristotle Poetics. trans Kenny, A. p.xxiii. Oxford: Oxford University Press

[13] Solomon R C & Higgins K M (2000), What Nietzsche Really Said, p.185, New York: Random House

[14] Solomon R C (1999), The Joy of Philosophy, pp. 33 – 35, New York: Oxford University Press

[15] Dean, J (2002) Aesthetics and Ethics: The State of the Art - American Society For Aesthetics. 2016. Aesthetics and Ethics: The State of the Art - American Society For Aesthetics. [ONLINE] Available at: http://aesthetics-online.org/?page=DeanState. [Accessed 2016].

[16] Hadfield, E (2016). Affirmative 1, Street Sign Installation, Peckham Square, London, SE15 http://www.edhadfield.com/affirmative-1/