The Gnoseology of Catharsis

Abstract

A work of art induces the recipient towards
cognition and creativity by means
of experience of cathartic emotion and the pain
of convulsion. Art is a guide for life creativity
which helps people make a metaphysical
effort for overcoming despair. As the result
of the conducted research a model has been
developed of the emergence, development
and realization of cathartic emotion.
All the elements of the model are inwardly
interconnected and mutually connected
and are in the condition of a dialogue between
the polarities of manifestations, the intensity
of emotion, in a cause-and-effect relationship,
in the connection of the invariant with
the variant parts.
The content and realization of the levels
of experiencing cathartic emotion are disclosed
in the dialogue of polar opposite fundamental
principles of existence: fear vs. joy, compassion
vs. pleasure, death vs. revival.
This is what comprises the content
and semantic signification of catharsis.
Art is not exhausted by cathartic impact
in the sense of purification, the most
important thing is in the emergence of the
insurmountable desire for creative activity.
In other words, it is the reception of a work
of art, the effort and artistry, the disclosure
of the best in oneself, the generation
of the creative gift, the emergence
of the necessity for creative activity.
On the essential level catharsis presents
the outcome of the conflict, the resolution
of the contradiction by means of the author’s
creative insight and the admission
of the audience into the highest level
of understanding and sensation
of the conflicts of life. It is particularly
an aesthetic attitude towards the world
created by perception of art.
The artistic experience creates
the possibility of resolving the eternal
contradictions-antinomies of life as an infinite
process of search for solutions of insoluble
problems and an alternate perception
of life and its meaning.