On Art IX: Metaphysics

"Metaphysics may be, after all, only the art of being sure of something that is not so and logic only the art of going wrong with confidence." (Joseph W Krutch, "The Modern Temper", 1929)

"As to the role of emotions in art and the subconscious mechanism that serves as the integrating factor both in artistic creation and in man's response to art, they involve a psychological phenomenon which we call a sense of life. A sense of life is a pre-conceptual equivalent of metaphysics, an emotional, subconsciously integrated appraisal of man and of existence." (Ayn Rand, "The Romantic Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature", 1969)

"For some years now the activity of the artist in our society has been trending more toward the function of the ecologist: one who deals with environmental relationships. Ecology is defined as the totality or pattern of relations between organisms and their environment. Thus the act of creation for the new artist is not so much the invention of new objects as the revelation of previously unrecognized relation- ships between existing phenomena, both physical and metaphysical. So we find that ecology is art in the most fundamental and pragmatic sense, expanding our apprehension of reality." (Gene Youngblood, "Expanded Cinema", 1970)

"The mystery of sound is mysticism; the harmony of life is religion. The knowledge of vibrations is metaphysics, the analysis of atoms is science, and their harmonious grouping is art. The rhythm of form is poetry, and the rhythm of sound is music. This shows that music is the art of arts and the science of all sciences; and it contains the fountain of all knowledge within itself." (Inayat Khan, "The Mysticism of Sound and Music", 1996)

 "Science, as usually taught to liberal arts students, emphasizes results rather than method, and tries to teach technique rather than to give insight into and understanding of the scientific habit of thought. What is needed, however, is not a dose of metaphysics but a truly humanistic teaching of science." (Harry D Gideonse)