The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #158223   Message #3746127
Posted By: Steve Shaw
23-Oct-15 - 09:35 AM
Thread Name: BS: The Pope in America
Subject: RE: BS: The Pope in America
That's right, but you said it: not beyond. As for mathematics, unlike science, there can be proofs and end-points. Mathematics is there for us to discover and tease out; science is a very human process which can have neither proofs nor end-points.

When it comes to art and music, they can be studied on many levels, or not really studied at all, just enjoyed. Personally, I want to know all there is to know about Beethoven because I want to get closer to gleaning how that flawed human being could deliver himself of some of the greatest art that humanity has ever produced. But the music, on at least one level, is enough in itself to satisfy aesthetic need. In that regard it can temporarily part company with science. In science, the next step of the enquiry is always The Big Thing. But, in music, the more you know, the more sharply you can respond. There's a bit of a parallel with the scientific process there.