An investigation of Kant's and Wittgenstein's ideas and their relevance for art and design education.

The philosophical approach that I have taken in my thesis, is an attempt to evaluate the importance of Kant's and Wittgenstein's thinking for art and design practice in education. In order to substantiate my central claim that art and design experience needs to be taken seriously in education, I begin by discussing through Kant's and Wittgenstein' s work some of the major theoretical concerns that appear to underpin aesthetic activity, its experience and thus creative involvement. From this analysis and by developing some of these arguments further, in relation to practical problems,• I explore and demonstrate in the final part of my thesis some of the factors which determine and account for art and design learning in education. The arguments that I produce, are an attempt to redefine expression and meaning in art and design education in a more precise and accurate way. In this respect, the essential distinctions that I aim to clarify concern some of the issues that affect and establish art and design understanding. In general, my arguments are a defence against considering art and design experience as indeterminate, subjective and simplistic. It is with this in mind, that I challenge the way art and design experience is often interpreted in education. The point that I stress, is that art and design practice is a complex and sophisticated learning activity. It is my contention that the complexity of understanding which art and design can entail and which I describe in this work, has seldom been explicitly articulated within an art and design educational context. The suggestions that I make in my work, outline certain ideas which have implications for art and design curriculum issues and teaching practice

Plato and Aristotle’s educational lessons from the Iliad

Of considerable importance in Plato and Aristotle’s educational outlook on the arts was Homer’s Iliad. This paper draws out some of the perceived weaknesses and strengths of this epic poem as it relates to the arguments in Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Poetics. I will attempt to do justice to Plato and Aristotle’s differing perspectives on the Iliad and their critique of art educational theory and practice. I will show why two philosophers with very different thinking on art education can still significantly affect art teaching practice today