Art is an expression and a response to our emotions; it represents our innermost thoughts through an aesthetic experience. A person's innermost feelings are reflected in their art. Art is a way of seeing life, so people with artistic skills and knowledge tend to be sensitive and insightful. The general opinion is that the ability of works of art to awaken emotions in the public is a perfectly natural and unproblematic fact.
It seems obvious that we can feel sadness or pity for fictional characters, fear of seeing menacing monsters on the movie screen, and joy when listening to happy and joyful songs. This may be the reason why many of us are consumers of art in the first place. Many of us tend to think that good art should not leave us indifferent. According to the latter, art consists, as an activity, of transmitting emotions to other people; whereas, according to the former, art's relationship with the public is only a possibility, not a need.
