Dr. Ellie Anderson, philosophy professor and co-host of Overthink podcast, discusses Alain Locke's short but impactful essay "Art or Propaganda?". Is propaganda art? Or on the other hand, is political art propaganda? The distinction between art and propaganda may seem murky, but Locke argues that seeing art as expressing a folk temperament that emerges from the "taproot of vital living" can help distinguish art and propaganda as two fundamentally different things.
This video is part of a series introducing philosophers' views of art and aesthetics.
For more from Dr. Anderson, check out Overthink on YouTube, or listen to our conversational podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We've got numerous audio podcast episodes on the philosophy of art!