Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Truth" and "understanding" are both things that have changed throughout human history, they are not fixed. Art can be something that changes the way you understand the world, which would change your idea of what the truth is about reality. I just rewatched Goodfellas the other day. No doubt that film brought a deeper understanding for many many people about mafia philosophy, history and events, and inspired more res…
FYI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth > "Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality" Your post is just a typical arts-based response. Not rigorous, sloppy, with "No doubt", "might suggest", "my impression is", "interpersonal challenges". It's just a sloppy mess that can't be engaged with, quite deliberately. Edit, if I sound frustrated I am. I'm trying to get a better handle on 'art' so I can und…
A very low-level example would be a Jackson Pollock or Mondrian painting. It's just a bunch of... stuff but it's extremely visually pleasing compared to just random blotches. There are theories as to why that might be[0] but overall, it would be nigh impossible to tell you why I personally find these pieces compelling because the reason is almost unconscious and tactile.
A medium level example would be a song that inspires a certain narrative in your mind. For instance, that intro song by the XX gives me all sorts of conflicting emotions that could be summarized as 'wanting to do more with my life', but the summary doesn't do it justice at all.
A higher-level example would be a piece of literature read at the right time in your life. It's a show-don't-tell type of exercise where the author exposes ideas to you about life or the world without spelling them out explicitly. Sometimes the ideas don't have much to do with the surface details of the narrative. In many ways, it is similar to experiences you actually lived yourself and that imparted ideas or lessons to you.
If you are not in the same headspace, this will seem like a con or pretentious nonsense. But what is really going on is that trying to explain it is often like trying to explain a joke or a subtle social interaction to someone who didn't get it.
My friend once tried to explain to me the beauty of the Carmack fast invert square root, and I didn't really get it because I lacked certain foundational ideas. But there was no doubt in my mind that he was seeing artistic worth in that moment, and that despite me being unable to understand it it was certainly not 'gloop'.
Trying to come at it with the combative Wikipedia-article-on-fallacies/STEM vs. art mindset is self-defeating, like interpreting the scientific method as a tool for prescriptive claims.
[0] https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/01/why-frac...