Religion For Atheists, Alain de Botton, On Art
In the Art Chapter, Alain de Botton in his book Religion for Atheists appreciates the religions for making a good use of art in order to spread its message especially ethical codes amongst its followers. For Alain de Botton art should be purpose driven, he quotes Hegel, “art is the sensous representation of ideas”. And de Botton is quite at ease in proving this is what the religions have done, they have represented their ideas in the form of various art from time immemorial.
Alain de Botton doesn’t see any use of modern concept of art i.e., art for art’s sake. He firmly criticizes the way art is represented in the modern times, where the attention is given to the details rather than the message. Christianity, is one of the religions which has made utmost use of art in propagating its message of love and other ideals. Alain de Botton modifies Hegel’s definition to bring it more fully into line with Christian idea of art: “good art is the sensuous representation of those ideas which matter most to the proper functioning of our souls.”
Virtues such as love, courage, justice and so on may seem simple, but de Botton reminds us that we are creatures of body and mind, that’s why we need art to stir our imagination and motivate us in ways that mere philosophical expositions cannot. We suffer from apraksia (forgetfulness) and this weakness of humans was well understood by the religions.
He points out how Christianity depicted the suffering of Christ. That it knows very well that we will not get through life without meeting with atrocious griefs of mind and body. It also knows that any pain is aggravated by a sense that we are alone in experiencing it and also that we are not very skilled at communicating the troubles to others, or at sensing others sorrows which hidden behind the stoic façade. Thus, the art of Christs suffering helps us to be compassionate with ourselves and others.
Alain de Botton envisions a secular society where a similar model of art used by religions is utilized to promote the virtues of love, courage, justice and prudence. He also looks forward for the collaboration of artists and thinkers what he calls the marriage of best ideas with highest form of expressions. By this humans can live as humans without any kind of interference of imagined exterior beings.
