Pros And Cons Of Gauguin

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1. I do not believe that Gauguin is morally justified because he left his wife and 5 children destitute with no way of supporting themselves, especially in the 19th century. He would have done no harm to anyone had he stayed where he was and just painted things that were around him. He would only have dissatisfied himself and the rest of the world would not have been affected by his decision. The millions of people that gain pleasure from his artwork would not have known that they were missing out on anything if he would have stayed in France and supported his family. He also did not become well known till after he died so he did not even gain the satisfaction of his artwork becoming popular. 2. Gauguin is morally justified if looking at it with a utilitarian point of view because the action of leaving his family destitute and following his dream …show more content…

His actions do maximize happiness and minimize sorrow because he is only causing sorrow to the six people in his family, but he is providing happiness to millions of people in the world through the artwork that was produced after his decision. If he had not made the decision that he made, the six people in his family would not have endured the sorrow, but the millions of people that have found pleasure in them would be missing out on that enjoyment. 4. The costs of Gauguin’s decision to travel to exotic places were that he left his family destitute, he had to leave his family behind, and he would likely not become known for his paintings in his lifetime. The benefits of leaving to travel were that he would have more inspiration for his painting and he would be able to truly be happy painting. 5. Gauguin could not have known that he would have a lasting legacy because it is very rare for artists to become popular due to the large number of people trying to become artists. It was a very unlikely outcome for Gauguin because he was from a poor background and there were many artists at that time trying to become

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