“Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.” - Frank Zappa
Like so many of Frank Zappa's zingers, this one's a reversal of a common sentiment: that art is somehow above commerce and commerce corrupts the artistic soul.
That attitude is rooted in 19th Century romantic aesthetics, in which emotion, imagination, freedom from rules, and spontaneity are opposed to soulless capitalism and the instrumentalist mindset it engenders.
Romantic values encompass a way of life and inform visions of ideal communities. So we have Martin Buber's "I-Thou" versus "I-It":
“In the I-Thou encounter we relate to each other as authentic beings, without judgment, qualification or objectification. I meet you as you are and you meet me as who I am. In the I-thou relationship what is key is how I am with you in my own heart and mind. The I-It encounter is the opposite in that we relate to another as object, completely outside of ourselves.” - Makenna Berry
The romantic vision of an ideal community is one composed of authentic individuals relating to each other I-Thou fashion, connected by natural love and affection in organic, familial-like bonds rather than I-It ties dictated by means-end considerations and self-interest.
Next in series: what's the truth-value of the romantic narrative - and how to fit in what we know about the brain?