Art as a science on special terms: A field, an instrument of cognition and its evaluation criteria

Abstract

Is art a science within the Polish higher education system? Although official documents refer to the “artistic level of scientific activity”, a key national institution promoting scientific research does not finance artistic activity. The question arises about the presence of art and the criteria for its evaluation, not only within the framework of artistic disciplines, but also within the humanities and social sciences. We are talking here about Art Based Research practices that go beyond art and scientific research conventions. Including art in the area of science is the choice of the way in which the world is to be described and experienced, and affects the selection of topics and research questions. By arousing emotions, it questions the world’s dominant role, undermining the positivist dichotomy of fact–fiction, rational–emotional. At the same time, it opens up to the social environment, striving to generate socially and politically engaged knowledge. New forms of presentation require not only new competencies from researchers, but also the establishment of new criteria for evaluating scientific research, perhaps also redefining basic concepts such as science, knowledge or research. Determining and implementing these criteria depends on the decision of the state education system as well as on the evaluation authority that also shapes the science sector.