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The Soul in the Prompt: AI, Studios, and Authorship as Idea

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The Secret Weapon. AI art Introduction For centuries, creating a work of art did not always require the artist’s direct intervention. Today, it may not even require a human hand. The figure of the creator as the material executor has historically been more the exception than the rule. From Renaissance workshops to digital installations — and more recently, works generated by artificial intelligence — authorship has proven to be an elusive and deeply cultural notion. What difference is there between a painter giving instructions to an assistant and one composing a prompt for an AI? Where, ultimately, does the artistic act reside? From Studios to Scripts: A Historical Continuity In the 16th and 17th centuries, painters began their careers as apprentices in the workshops of established masters. Once they gained recognition, they opened their own studios and hired assistants, who executed most—sometimes all—of the work under their supervision. Today, museums and galleries distinguish...
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What’s in a Name? “Nomen est Omen”—From Ancient Belief to Literary Subversion

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Wilde and Shakespeare in The Globe. AI art Introduction From baby names to brands or corporate logos, from novels to news headlines, people often act as if names carry a hidden charge—a sign of fate, character, or truth. This age-old belief is distilled in the Latin maxim nomen est omen , which translates to “the name is a sign” or more evocatively, “the name is a prophecy.” It suggests that names are not mere labels, but potent clues to the nature or destiny of their bearers. This article explores the roots of nomen est omen and then examines how this notion is treated—and ultimately undermined—in two canonical literary texts: Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet . Wilde satirizes the performative allure of naming, while Shakespeare poetically denies its power, offering two distinct critiques of the belief that names reveal essence. The Origins of a Belief The phrase nomen est omen can be traced back to Roman literatur...
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Nietzsche and Heidegger on Art: Two Modes of Overcoming Metaphysics

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Aletheia: Heidegger Unveils Nietzsche. AI art     Introduction For two millennia Western thought yoked beauty to a transcendent order that consoles mortal turbulence. Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger revolt against that heritage, yet they do not abandon art; they enlist it to surpass metaphysics on new terms. Nietzsche turns artistic creation into a festival of vital power, whereas Heidegger recasts the artwork as the site where truth happens. Their divergent projects illuminate two non‑religious ways in which art can break free from the old ceiling of philosophy. Nietzsche: Transfiguration through Dionysian Force In The Birth of Tragedy Nietzsche famously claims, “Only as an aesthetic phenomenon is existence eternally justified” (Nietzsche, 2000/1872, §5). The sentence rejects transcendental comfort while refusing nihilism: art redeems life by absorbing agony into rhythm, image, and song. That alchemy hinges on the interplay of Apollonian shape and Dionysian ...
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Hume Against the Grain: The Is/Ought Rupture as a Proto‑Deconstructive Gesture

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AI art “In every system of morality, which I have hitherto met with, I have always remarked, that the author proceeds for some time in the ordinary way of reasoning, and establishes the being of a God, or makes observations concerning human affairs; when of a sudden I am surprised to find, that instead of the usual copulations of propositions, is, and is not, I meet with no proposition that is not connected with an ought, or an ought not. This change is imperceptible; but is, however, of the last consequence. For as this ought, or ought not, expresses some new relation or affirmation, it is necessary that it should be observed and explained; and at the same time that a reason should be given, for what seems altogether inconceivable, how this new relation can be a deduction from others, which are entirely different from it. But as authors do not commonly use this precaution, I shall presume to recommend it to the readers.” (David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, book 3, part 1, section...
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The Ethics of Exhaustion: Nietzsche on Decadence and Cancel Culture

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The Blond Beast in Chains. AI art Introduction Cultural decay rarely announces itself with fanfare. Nietzsche insists that exhaustion often parades as virtue, cloaking weariness beneath moral rectitude. When a society creaks under that disguise, it not only loses its imaginative pulse but also clears a path for domineering personalities. This essay draws on Nietzsche’s critique of décadence and ressentiment to show how moral fervor—especially when fortified by popular psychology—can erode creative life and invite manipulative power. By tracing the genealogy of moralized outrage, we will see why guarding aesthetic vitality matters as much as guarding legal rights. Diagnosing Decline For Nietzsche, decline is not mere laxity; it is “that exhaustion which no longer attacks what is harmful” ( Twilight of the Idols , “Skirmishes,” §37). A culture in decline elevates symptoms of frailty—pity, timidity, compliance—into commandments, congratulating itself on its own restraint. Beca...
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