Art as Energeia: From Aristotle to today

Abstract

The paper examines how the philosophical concept of energeia shapes Aristotle’s theory of art and what it can contribute to understanding emerging art species, especially AI-generated art. First, by tracing energeia across Aristotle’s major texts, this discussion clarifies that the philosophical mode of energeia unites what a thing is and how it is. Extending this to aesthetics, energeia provides a conceptual basis for the reality of artistic imitation. Based on the Poetics, read in conjunction with other Aristotelian texts, this discussion concludes that, for Aristotle, art can be understood as energeia: it comes to presence as its potential is being actualized in the subject’s aesthetic experience. Attention turns to today, energeia is becoming an important interdisciplinary concept. From an energeia perspective, the value and perhaps even the nature of AI-generated art can be approached by considering its potential and its mode of actualization.