But not only does our awareness of aspects and our ability to represent
them promote survival, it also confers on us new interests. As we represent
thingsasthis or that, we can both make mistakes and develop new repre-
sentations. In the course of doing this, we can become interested in repre-
sentation for its own sake, not just for the sake of survival. We can become
interested in truth, in how things are (or are this or that), whether or not
acquiring awareness of further aspects of things has immediate survival
value. Second, we can become interested in the aspects or appearances of
our representational devices themselves. We can be interested in howtheir
aspects enable us to become aware of and communicate aspects of things. For
example, can a visual image communicate the relative spatial position of
objects, and is it important for it to do so? If it is, then perspective drawing
will answer to this purpose. Or is it important to use visual images more for
narrative and less for spatial purposes? If so, then wealth of sequential detail
may matter more than rendering of relative spatial position. Or we may
simply enjoy the activity of experimenting with the media of visual repre-
sentation: mud, blood, crushed berries, or acrylics, as may be. Likewise, we
may become interested in the flow, rhythm,“feel,”and memorability of
verbal representational devices, so that song and chant and poetry may arise.
Third, we can become interested in the development and presentation of a
representational device (visual or verbal) to others as a form of performance
that might command admiration and respect. We can want to become
accomplished in representing aspects of things not only because we want to
get them right, but also because we wish to be admired as representers.
Artistic representation as a human activity then arises when these latter
interests–in truth, in what different kinds of representations can communi-
cate, and in representation as commanding performance–come to the fore.
In light of this, we can now make more sense of Aristotle’s treatment of the
value or point of artistic representation. According to Aristotle,Two causes seem to have generated the art of poetry as a whole, and these are
natural ones.
(i) Representation is natural to human beings from childhood. They differ
from the other animals in this: man tends most toward representation
and learns his first lessons through representation.
Also (ii) everyone delights in representations...The cause of this is that
learning is most pleasant, not only for philosophers but for others likewise46 An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art