arts and sciences

Sheryl Chen – Issue Essay

"The objective of science is largely opposed to that of art; while science seeks to discover truths, art seeks to obscure them."

Science’s primary objective is to investigate truth; in contrast, art does not operate within the same parameters of logic. However, it is more a matter of whether science is in conflict of art, whether one is counterproductive to the other. Although both can be mutually exclusive in procedure, the arts and the sciences both operate on the basis of truth, and in fact, go hand in hand.

The entirety of truth can be abstracted into objective and subjective generalities. Science investigates the theories of irrefutable truths, while art expresses and reflects the subjectivity of the individual. Disregarding one’s study of statistical truth versus the other’s expression of emotivistic truth, both encapsulate ideas on the premise of truth.

Art preserves and communicates truth, while science uncovers and develops it. Whether it is the revolutionary ideas of a poet or the expressed emotions of a musician, art communicates the personal truths of its artist. It is a reflection of its creator the historical and cultural context and the response of its audience.

Science becomes an art once the communication of ideas is implemented, whether through jargon, nomenclature, diagrams, or the aesthetic presentation of its information. Similarly art becomes a science once it becomes investigated logically, mathematically, or even sociologically. One does not operate independent of the other, especially not in opposition.