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Art and Egineering are not opposed. As Donald Knuth said, if we go back to Latin roots, we find ars, artis meaning "skill." and the corresponding Greek word was

Art and Egineering are not opposed. As Donald Knuth said, if we go back to Latin roots, we find ars, artis meaning "skill." and the corresponding Greek word was τεχνη, the root of both "technology" and "technique." (http://www.paulgraham.com/knuth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/knuth.html)

TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
That definition works better for craft than art. Art used to mean representational skill. But that was a couple of millennia ago, and culture has moved on a little since then. There are plenty of artists with exceptional representational skill but limited visual creativity or psychological insight. They don't get a lot of interest because they're more like cover bands than original talents. I tend to think of software as a brain craft. It's certainly not an art in the usual cultural sense of the word. When it's done well it's more like very good carpentry or metalwork.
adwn 11y ago
> [...] if we go back to Latin roots, we find ars, artis meaning "skill." and the corresponding Greek word was τεχνη, the root of both "technology" and "technique." That's a fun fact to know, but ancient word origins do not give any indication about the modern meaning of derived terms. It might be the case that "art and engineering are not opposed", but this doesn't follow from their vaguely similar etymologies.
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  Sure, but it opens the discussion: what else is art about? Long ago they knew it was all 'craftsmanship'. Now we pretend its more than that. Why?
- kazinator 11y ago
  > ancient word origins do not give any indication about the modern meaning of derived terms In this case they do. - you can be artful (in two senses), neither of which is the same as "artistic". - artifice and artificial - artisan: not exactly artist - trapeze artist - con artist - artifact: not necessarily a work of art.

TheOtherHobbes 11y ago

That definition works better for craft than art. Art used to mean representational skill. But that was a couple of millennia ago, and culture has moved on a little since then. There are plenty of artists with exceptional representational skill but limited visual creativity or psychological insight. They don't get a lot of interest because they're more like cover bands than original talents. I tend to think of software as a brain craft. It's certainly not an art in the usual cultural sense of the word. When it's done well it's more like very good carpentry or metalwork.

adwn 11y ago

> [...] if we go back to Latin roots, we find ars, artis meaning "skill." and the corresponding Greek word was τεχνη, the root of both "technology" and "technique." That's a fun fact to know, but ancient word origins do not give any indication about the modern meaning of derived terms. It might be the case that "art and engineering are not opposed", but this doesn't follow from their vaguely similar etymologies.

JoeAltmaier 11y ago
Sure, but it opens the discussion: what else is art about? Long ago they knew it was all 'craftsmanship'. Now we pretend its more than that. Why?
kazinator 11y ago
> ancient word origins do not give any indication about the modern meaning of derived terms In this case they do. - you can be artful (in two senses), neither of which is the same as "artistic". - artifice and artificial - artisan: not exactly artist - trapeze artist - con artist - artifact: not necessarily a work of art.