The Sustainable Humanist Concept in Art and Science Synergies

Humanism concept has evolved from its origins to the present day. This approach to life can also be found before and after the fifteenth century. Leonardo da Vinci is, for sure, the best reference, but we can also consider humanists Vitruvius and Humbolt, distant from the twenty-first century. Considering that one of the principles of humanism was to retake the ancient Greco-Latin cultures, it is necessary to take a tour around its fundamental elements. We will make a chronological tour of the Greek paideia, the liberal arts, finishing with the studia humanitatis to understand the elements that have endured and remain essential for forming the human being. The transmission of knowledge has been at the base of teaching to allow new achievements to be transmitted from generation to generation. Such is the case, for example, of Leonardo da Vinci’s codices. On the other hand, research is essential to advance knowledge, and here arises the dilemma of the kind of research to use. Science and art start from different methodologies, quantitative and qualitative, and yet both are complementary. The researcher’s own experience must also be at the base of their approaches, as an added value. Artography enables this way of conducting educational research based on the arts. Next, different approaches will be exposed where art and science go hand in hand, enriching the results and breaking the barriers of compartmentalizing these two fields of knowledge. Currently, there are different examples, even becoming exhibitions in museums. The relationship of a human being in his natural environment, a concept inherent to humanism and connected to the interest of researching, brings us closer to the concept of critical theory where praxis and theory must be related to experience for approaching knowledge. Finally, we can affirm that the concept of sustainability is closely linked to the search for balance, to the concept of the relationship between man and nature. Artists like Joseph Beuys or the young Juan Zamora show us, through their artwork, the need to make people aware. The sustainable humanist must seek the balance between the person and the environment and how knowledge is related, investigated, learned, and transmitted, with equality as a principle. Open image in new window