On the Merging of the Arts and Sciences

by Lee Duane FitzSimmons

Ever since the days of Hesiod and Homer, philosophers and intellectuals have distinguished between many types of human activity. The broad categories of "art" and "science" have always been present in the academic world and still continue to this day. This separation of human activity into these two distinct regions has crippled many intellects by stifling the imaginative process. If these chains of categorization are shattered, then it becomes possible to view all science as art and all art as science.

When these obfuscatory veils are lifted, an entirely new vision of humanity can be more thoroughly explored. First, all science can be approached as artistic creation. Scientific experiments are an artistic process, and the practical applications made with these experiments can also be seen as another form of art. In fact, it could be argued that empirical science is one of the greatest artistic expressions of humanity. However, when science is properly understood in this manner, the horrors of vivisection and animal experiments are revealed for what they truly are. They are neither science nor art.

They are wrong.

Secondly, art is most definitely a science. When an artist creates a new work, it has a definite effect on those who see and/or hear it. These effects on individuals are real and not imaginary. For example, different shapes, colors, words, sounds, and images stimulate actual responses in the subjects who perceive these basic elements of art. These reactions are very real and can be measured with empirical scientific techniques. In addition, the actual creation of art stimulates the senses of the artist in very real ways that can also be scientifically analyzed.

Thus, to separate the categories of art and science is a travesty to humanity. Human activity is human activity. These things have always been this way for all of the millennia that the human species has been in existence, and these things will always be for all of the centuries that are to follow. By acknowledging that the lines of distinction between the realms of art and science are not rigid and sharp but are blurred and fuzzy, it becomes possible to conceptualize many new types of techniques and ideas for both the arts and the sciences so that humanity may continue to evolve in a more creative and productive way.

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