Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

IV. Ethics
or moral boundaries of the time—to
political
a progressive agenda. For example,
promote
works from an exhibition, Art AIDS
artistic
may have helped to foster progressive
America,
towards AIDS, and yet were
attitudes
and/or censored in their time. This
condemned
an obvious and recurring theme in art that
is
become something of a cliché. Should we
has
conclude that censorship is wrong? Of
therefore
the situation is much more complicated.
course,
history of art is filled with works that
The
and provoked outrage and yet failed
offended
deliver any positive social change. If it is
to
to recall particular examples, it may be
difficult
we scarcely noticed them (or because
because
were quickly censored), but there are many
they
of sexist, racist or religiously hateful
instances
masquerading as art.
work
big part of the problem of what to censor and
A
to permit, is the difficulty in rigorously
what
art. This provides people with a
defining
shortcut to censorship: “Oh, that’s
convenient
art, that’s [something else]”. Should artists
not
able to challenge our conceptions of human
be
or religious righteousness? Of course
sexuality
should. Are there limits to how they can
they
this? Apparently, yes, in every society and
do
that we know of. How are those limits
nation
at, who decides them and what are the
arrived
of such censorship? These are TOK
implications
would be fooled by survival bias to
We
that art should not be censored
conclude
it changes the world for the better;
because
would also be foolish to fail to realize that
we
artists never get that chance, because of
some
And without censorship, would
censorship.
not lose some of its transgressive powers
art
provoke, question and incite? Part of the
to
power of art comes from the
progressive
to it—the impulse to outrage and
response
Ultimately, how we strike that
censorship.
is a result of the forces and voices that
balance
peculiar subset within the topic of censorship
A
the censoring of art from the past. If history
is
anything to go by, our tolerance to art
is
increased with time; works that were
has
in the past, perhaps because of their
censored
or provocative tone, are more
blasphemous
accepted today. However, there is a
widely
movement to censor works from
contemporary
past. What does this suggest about popular
the
of morality and progress in art? Is
conceptions
in art more contextual than truth in other
truth
AOKs?
in 2001, the music critic Anthony
Writing
described the distinction between
Tommasini
and reality—art takes many forms and is
art
always easy to define, but it is always one
not
removed from reality. Well-known images
step
Vietnamese children running from a napalm
of
or of the falling twin towers might be
attack
and captivating to view,
artistically-composed
Tommasini stresses, we must recognise
but,
as truth rather than art. Would you agree
them
Tommasini’s distinction between truth
with
art? and
the Tate Modern Museum of
Conversely,
lists photojournalism as a form of art
London
emphasizing its need to remain “honest
while
impartial”. To what extent is that possible?
and
discussed in section II, there can be value
As
considering photojournalism as an art even
in
its status as a documentary medium is
though
accepted. Documentary photographers,
widely
invoking particular aesthetics and
by
can have a significant impact in
narratives,
realm, much like artists striving to create
this
certain mood in their work. Therefore,
a
comply with strict ethical
photojournalists
that have evolved and continue
guidelines
improve over time. Let’s explore how
to
aesthetic decisions in photography can
the
the meaning of a work, beginning with
affect
particularly shocking images taken by
the
Wallace Hooper of the Madras
Willoughby
of 1876–1888.
famine
10
IV.2.2 Censorship of the past
IV.3 The ethics of aesthetics
questions.
put forward their case on either side.
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