The Art Museum as a Place of Philosophical Exploration

Abstract

ABSTRACT We argue that the art museum can and should be a place of philosophical exploration. It can be such a place because philosophy and art have important similarities. They both ask us to adopt a non-instrumental, contemplative attitude toward the world that allows us to widen our personal viewpoint and explore the complex nature of things. To explicate these commonalities justifies much of museum educators’ actual practice and motivates the integration of philosophy into art education where this is not yet common practice. Furthermore, our aim is to motivate more and deeper interdisciplinary cooperation between museum educators and philosophers. The art museum should be a place of philosophical exploration on the grounds that it can thereby reach its full potential as a place of informal learning. Furthermore, embedding philosophical explorations in museums’ visitor engagement can benefit the discipline of philosophy, too, insofar as it introduces it to a broader public.