Blurring Art and Science: Synthetical Moments on the Borders

Abstract

This article rejects the assumption that art and science are dichotomous in favor of a holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of the intimate relationship between the arts and sciences. The authors advance the notion that artistic modes of thought and aesthetic experiences are essential to the cognitive and expressive development of students and to the quality of the instructional milieu orchestrated by teachers. The authors respond affirmatively to Eisner and Powell’s rhetorical question as to whether or not we can think about education as a process aimed at preparing the artist, and they discuss several projects designed to advance the arts in education by integrating aesthetics into the philosophical understandings of teaching and learning. The authors diverge from Eisner and Powell on one significant issue: the nature of the aesthetic experience. Instead, they propose a Deleuzean reading of synthetical moments and experiences of profound insight that merge time, space, and self in a seamless transhistorical moment. The authors hope that this article will contribute to an ongoing discussion about the nature of aesthetics, philosophy, and the experience of self, as well as generate a fresh look at the expressive quality of arts-based research, particularly using the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze as a theoretical foundation.