It is hard to disagree that even modern people often become trapped by logical fallacies – false or deceptive arguments that actually lack reasoning. For example, numerous parents prevent their children from listening to contemporary music, watching thrillers and scary movies, and playing computer games because, according to them, such art promotes violence. On the contrary, some other persons state that art is a sequence – it only reflects the nature of people. The purpose of this paper is to find out which of these two statements is a logical fallacy.
An academic opinion may be helpful in finding proof in support of either view. Overall, “no credible study has proven that art that portrays violence causes real-world violence” (Whitehouse, 2019, para. 2). According to the results of some research papers, engagement with art portraying violence can trigger aggressive behaviors in people who already have mental disorders or genetic predisposition to them (Goodson & Turner, 2021). What is more, this art can instill stereotypes in a person but cannot change their behavior drastically and make a child or an adult become violent. If a healthy, friendly, kind, and empathetic boy listens to heavy metal or rap music, it only means that he is a fan of these genres.
At the same time, art indeed reflects the nature of people and the social issues that worry them. For instance, an example of prehistoric art is the image of hunting on the walls of caves. However, no one states that precisely painted animal killings made the ancestors of contemporary humans crueler: they only portrayed their daily lives. The increased aggression of modern art indicates that the average person cannot cope with the level of negative emotions and sees the need to get rid of them through music or video games.
To draw a conclusion, one may say there is a connection between art and violence. However, the statement that the former increases the latter is a post hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacy (Hansen, 2020). Aggressive art is not the cause but the effect of human behaviors. In order to make people less aggressive and more empathetic, it is vital to care about their mental states, nutrition, exercising, and unregulated access to online content instead of limiting their engagement with art.
References
Goodson, S., & Turner, K. J. (2021). Effects of violent video games: 50 years on, where are we now? Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 24(1), 3-4.
Hansen, H. (2020). Fallacies [eBook edition]. Stanford University.
Whitehouse, R. (2019). Joker and the abiding myth of art that inspires real-life violence. Sunday Guardian Live. Web.