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Theory of Knowledge - Arts

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Introduction

Theory of Knowledge - Essay 2 The Arts Does art, or can art, tell the truth? What kinds of truth does art deal with? Choose one form of art (visual art, literature or music) and discuss the nature of this art and its links to truth. Make sure you consider counter claims and explore the implications of your statements. Since biblical times when Pilate asked Jesus 'What is truth?' (St. John xviii. 37) the human race has been curious about the term truth. We, with our blind curiosity, always seek to find answers and the so called 'truth'. Art is a vehicle that can be used to express ourselves and in turn, these 'truths'. Although the knowledge issues we encounter is; how do we know if something is telling the truth? What aspects incorporate telling the truth? The implications of this have an enormous effect because it could jeopardize strengths of the knowledge. For example, in the poem 'Salad' by the South African poet, Antjie Krog, the speaker reminisces about a sexual encounter while at a formal gathering, she could be telling the truth of an affair, or not. ...read more.

Middle

The second aspect that is going to be explored is the choice of words used in literature to communicate a message. The use of prose in fiction novels such as 'The Color of Law' by Mark Gimenez (a book about a lawyer who gets caught up in a high stakes criminal case) is altered quite dramatically through the course of the plot. The sentences used are sharp and witty in the beginning and get slower after the case is over. This use of sharp, witty sentences would make this story of a lawyer believable and more gripping. If a story has the ability to transfix a reader, even though it's a story, the author would con the reader into believing that it is true, that the story is non-fiction. So the way a piece of literature is phrased, it could apply to an audience for effectively, and in turn, making them believe it's true. The terminology used to explain a situation is a way of knowing of revealing the truth of a plot in literature. ...read more.

Conclusion

A poet with credentials from potentially biased sources could have a negative impact on the audience who were meant to receive her poem 'Your Revolution'. These could be misinterpreted and therefore the truth would be molded into something that it is not. A limitation in this aspect of truth telling is that, most of it is only potential and her media publicity could possibly increase her fame and get her views across more forcefully. A possible counter claim to the aspect of credibility is that it cannot really be tested and therefore cannot be proven to a certain extent In conclusion, art can and does tell the truth in many situations. The ways we can identify that it does this is by the attention to detail given, the prose and choice of words used, the level of credibility, and the credibility of the poet/author him/herself. The truth has many forms, only some of which were explored in this paper, but literature in particular deals with the truth of the message given. To further explore the horizons made viewable by the question, we could look into the possibility of defining truth itself and truth in different areas such as mathematics, natural sciences and so on an so forth. ...read more.

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