Arts and the Basis of Education

This book argues for the inclusion of programs in arts appreciation in the schools. Miller presents a theory of aesthetic experience and describes the features of a program in art appreciation which would attain educationally important goals. He embraces three fields-formal aesthetics, educational psychology, and aesthetic education-to illustrate the way art experience strengthens basic and liberal education. Miller points out that it 1)rehearses learners in the skill of close attending, 2) relates perception to higher mental processes, and 3) through concrete objectification it projects the connotative half of mental processes. This book assesses art, language, and reason as distinct but interconnected symbolisms and though it accepts the common view that reason is the highest intellectual operation, it argues that art experience is a preparation for the highest function. Contents: The Experience of Art; What is Art Good For?; Katie and the Arts; Good Art and Bad Art; The Place of Art in the Hierarchy of Learning; The Place of Art in the Life of the Mind; Art in the School; Art in the Classroom.