The Interaction of Art and Science

The author presents the view of science and art as functionally interdependent. Science relies on the imagination of art for new hypotheses; art relies on the critical reasoning of science to awaken the imagination into activity. The author proposes a 'black box' mechanism for the interaction of science and art in the preconscious minds of individuals. The conscious minds of individual scientists and artists act as projection mechanisms for the preconscious contacts of science and art. In this second half of the twentieth century, how should the Two Cultures of Snow's'dichotomy be related? [1] Aldous Huxley Do art and science interact? If so, how? Two opinions dominate the debate. One holds that art and science are polar opposites and any similarities between the two are coincidental [2]. The other claims that art and science are only different expressions of a single underlying voice and that similarities between the two are clues to this voice [3]. I shall show how both positions are mistaken. Both are based on the false assumption that rationality (cognitivity) and irrationality (imagination) are exclusive opposites. The assumption is mistaken because it denies the reality of the occurrence of correspondences between art and science. The alternative view that I shall present of the functional interdependence of rationality (cognitivity) and irrationality (imagination) admits the reality of correspondences. Several correspondences can be seen between the arts and