The future of museums and the role of museology

Abstract

Modern civilization has admitted to the idea that art and science are (sometimes) useless and disinterested in the practical problems of the world, because of their inability to stop certain processes or to influence them decisively. For art—where social and cognitive dissonance is directly obvious and openly commented upon—our civilization has closed the case by inventing an art that serves only itself: 'L'art pour l'art'. Hypocritical society accepted this rationalization, art historians were happy to end the obvious challenge to their 'fact'-blindness, and artists consented as it seemed to help them too. But art suffered because it was denied an active role in society. The same thing happened more or less to science, which was probably more free but now finds itself in the position of a servant, playing only the role of filling out the pattern dictated by the power-holders. Yet, we do know that this is not the inherent logic of either science or art. However disinterested in everday practice they may seem, science and art only make sense if leading towards a change in behaviour and to new solutions to our problems. This statement is also true of philosophy which is as much science as it is art.