The preceding three sections comprise my philosophical basis for my art... most artists do not have such a conscious basis, tho in fact one is being expressed in every work they do... why? because they have never been taught its importance... as Ayn pointed out, "In order to live, man must act; in order to act; he must make choices; in order to make choices, he must define a code of values; in order to define a code of values, he must know what he is and where he is -- i.e., he must know his own nature (including his means of knowledge) and the nature of the universe in which he acts -- i.e., he needs metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, which means -- he needs philosophy. He cannot escape from this need; his only alternative is whether the philosophy guiding him is to be chosen by his mind or by chance." Most artists, however, have been taught, or rather told, to just work with your sense of life, with your emotions, and be guided by that...
"A sense of life is a pre-conceptual equivalent of metaphysics, an emotional, subconsciously integrated appraisal of man and of existence."
"Long before he is old enough to grasp such a concept as metaphysics, man makes choices, forms value-judgments, experiences emotions and acquires a certain implicit view of life. Every choice and value-judgment implies some estimate of himself and of the world around him -- most particularly, of his capacity to deal with the world. He may draw conscious conclusions, which may be true or false; or he may remain mentally passive and merely react to events (i.e., feel). Whatever the case may be, his subconscious mechanism sums up his psychological activities, integrating his conclusions, reactions or evasions into an emotional sum that establishes a habitual pattern and becomes his automatic response to the world around him."
This is a sense of life.
"Man, by his nature, cannot refrain from generalizing; he cannot live moment by moment, without context, without past or future; he cannot eliminate his integrating capacity, i.e., his conceptual capacity, and confine his consciousness to an animal's perceptual range... the enormously powerful integrating mechanism of man's consciousness is there at birth; his choice is to drive it or be driven by it."
"A sense of life is formed by a process of emotional generalization which may be described as a subconscious counterpart of a process of abstraction, since it is a method of classifying and integrating. But it is a process of emotional abstraction -- it consists of classifying things according to the emotions they invoke... which particular emotions will be invoked... depends on which set of things fits an individual's view of himself."
"The key concept, in the formation of a sense of life, is the term 'important'. It is a concept that belongs to the realm of values, since it implies an answer to the question 'important -- to whom?' Yet its meaning is different from moral values. 'Important' does not necessarily mean 'good'. It means 'a quality, character, or standing such as to entitle to attention or consideration' (The American College Dictionary). What, in a fundamental sense, is entitled to one's attention or consideration? Reality."
Importance, therefore, refers to a fundamental view of man's nature.
"It is only those values which he regards or grows to regard as 'important', those which represents his implicit view of reality, that remain in a man's subconscious and form his sense of life."
"[to] an artist, his primary purpose is to bring his view of man and of existence into reality; but to be brought into reality, it has to be translated into objective (therefore, communicable) terms."
"The basic purpose of art is not to teach, but to show -- to hold up to man a concretized image of his nature and his place in the universe." now, every work of art has, by its nature a theme, but it is only of secondary consequence. " Art is not the means to any didactic end. This is the difference between a work of art and ... a propaganda poster. The greater a work of art, the more profoundly universal its theme. Art is not the means of literal transcription. This is the difference between a work of art and a news story or a photograph." " Art is not concerned with actual occurrences or events as such, but with their metaphysical significance to man."
Note, tho, while every work of art has by its nature a theme, the best art, then, ought to have consciously derived themes -- in effect elevating a mere 'sense of life' to a more 'wisdom of life... note, too, the reference to 'communicable' terms, and remember that the basic direct viewing of man's consciousness is perceptual. This means that all works of art have to be representational -- this is the difference between a work of art and decorative art (work of art referring to the class of 'fine art, which includes painting, sculpture, and literature).
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