A number of the philosophers we have studied this semester discuss what art's purpose is. Plato seems to think of art as a distraction, Aristotle seems to think of art as a way to teach us about ourselves (specifically through drama) and Schopenhauer believes art reveals metaphysical truths about reality. Nietzsche, though, seems to think of art as an escape. He is about as much of a bummer as Schopenhauer is as far as believing that we're all just dying one life long and that life is a struggle, but he thinks of art as a way to cope with said struggle. Art is how we put a smile on our usually frowned face.
Nietzsche holds that there are two main kinds of art: Apolline art and Dionysiac art. The former is designed mostly as this kind of escape. It is a dream world that keeps the terrors of life at bay and allows us as human beings to find some kind of superficial peace while we wait to die. Dionysiac art, on the other hand, is art that absolutely intoxicates us. It is Subliminal art, as Schopenhauer might have said. It is the feeling we get when were in the middle of a huge singing crows at a rock concert. We allow ourselves to be totally taken over by and directed by it. Now thats an escape, and its another reason why I believe music to be the highest form of art.
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