One of the questions that has most bothered me in my reflections on culture is the question of kitsch. Just what is it? When did it begin? And why?
Roger ScrutonRead
In mathematics and science we solve our problems as well as create them. But in art and philosophy things are not so simple.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the complexity of problems in art and philosophy compared to the more straightforward problem-solving in mathematics and science.
Roger Scruton suggests that while mathematics and science provide clear methodologies to tackle and even generate problems, the realms of art and philosophy involve much deeper complexities where solutions are not easily defined or derived. This highlights the unique challenges faced in creative and philosophical endeavors, where subjective interpretation and emotional depth play critical roles.
Themes
MathematicsScienceArtPhilosophyProblem SolvingComplexity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used to discuss the differences between technical and creative problem-solving in educational settings.
More from Roger Scruton
All quotes βThere are big questions science doesn't answer, such as why is there something rather than nothing? There can't be a scientific answer to that because it's the answer that precedes science.
Roger ScrutonRead
18th century opera is packed with emotion, but contains not a trace of kitsch. Only with the 'thees' and 'thous' of Victorian poetry does the disease begin to grow in our poetic tradition.
Roger ScrutonRead
The robust English view used to be that the correct response to offensive words is to ignore them, or to answer them with a rebuke. If you invoke the law at all, it should be to protect the one who gives the offence, and not the one who takes it. Now, it seems, it is all the other way round.
Roger ScrutonRead
For two centuries the English countryside has been an icon of national identity and the loved reminder of our island home. Yet the government is bent on littering the hills with wind turbines and the valleys with high speed railways.
Roger ScrutonRead
You cannot own a symphony or a novel in the way you can own a Damien Hirst. As a result there are far fewer fake symphonies or fake novels than there are fake works of visual art.
Roger ScrutonRead
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