In extending experimentalism, francis T.Villemin and Nathaniel L. Champlin have sought, in their writings and through their students and colleagues, to meet conditions which could lead to a more adequate formulation of a philosophy of art education
Gaining impetus from the pioneering work of peirce and dewey, this new position makes the scientific demand that symbols making up a theory must have a referent
The words "feeling" and "emotion," usually identified linguistically with the arts (as opposed to "intelligence" and "reason" in the sciences), tend not to have a definite referent as they are popular used
These words are said to stand for unanalyzable qualities or are "explained" by a reductionism to conditions which produced these qualities
This new theory of art offers itself as a theory of intelligence which finds a place for the qualitative as well as the cognitive forms of activity, the arts as well as the sciences
The distinction theoretical and qualitative replaces the traditional distinctions theoretical and emotional, qualitative and quantitative
The physicist is viewed as deliberately relating qualities to gain in theoretic mediation (theory related to theory via theoretic controls) and the artist before his canvas is said to be engaged in qualitative mediation (quality related to quality via qualitative controls)
The two are not to be confused, lost in each other of reduced to bio-chemical processes
Moreover,competence and facility with one mediation does not presuppose competence and facility with the other "theoretical symbols" and "qualitative symbols" are held to be inclusive categories for describing intelligence
While several integral features of this theory have equally important implications for art education, limited space will allow a brief sketch of one new and fundamental concept, that of the qualitative symbol
Now qualities, to be considered as symbols, must act in a representing and mediating capacity
At the same time must, if so viewed, be distinguished from theoretic representation and mediation
For instance, consider the referent or object of the theoretical symbol "white"
If everything we perceived was white, we could locate no distinctive "it" to name "white" ; as a term it would be meaningless
A quality is distinguishable only as there is a relationship or constrast note, say, a white figure on a black ground
Furthermore, it is held, a quality repressents the relationship which present it, the relationship which established it as a distinguishable
This triadic relation generates quality as a symbol