If Art is What Makes us Human, Can it Relieve the Pain of Being Human?

Abstract

Two contemporary British novels, Never Let Me Go and Saturday, suggest that art (the ability to respond to art with deep affection and the ability to be creative) is indicative or even constitutive of humanity. The essay considers in detail some implications of this hypothesis with reference to the concepts of art and art therapy. In particular, it seems that the significance of art for humanity might be explained if art is interpreted as primarily a cognitive activity (whose main object is the self) and if self-awareness (interest in one’s inner world) is perceived as essential for humanity. At the same time the hypothesis in question seems to undermine the idea of art therapy, since if art makes us human, it can hardly relieve the pain of being human, especially if, as argued by Dennett, awareness and self-awareness play the fundamental role in the experience of suffering. Art’s therapeutic function may, however, be defended if therapy is defined as assistance in man’s effort to accept suffering as inevitable part of human life.