A Noetic Account of the Relationship Between Science and Art

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Science, Shahid Beheshti University

10.30465/ps.2026.55332.1847
Abstract
If science aims at cognizing the world and art aims at aesthetic experience, then it seems that there is no substantive relation between science and art. Refuting this implication, this article argues that grasping the scientific theories and models that represent artistic works confers understanding of them. I call this relation, and the account pertaining to it, “noetic”. To articulate this account, I will argue that aesthetically experiencing artistic works depends on understanding the formal properties they possess. Discussing some instances from the history of art, I then show that this aesthetic understanding requires grasping means that are exterior to an artistic work yet represent it. Among these means are scientific models and theories, and this supports the main claim of the noetic account.

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