Today I listened to a musician say his music is always interventive, as he thinks that an artist has a moral obligation, and this led me to ask the question here.

Epicurus (and, like him, Philodemus) believe that art's only mission is to show beauty, and that if it tries to educate it lowers itself because that is not its purpose.

While beauty standards have changed during historic (and pre-historic) times, it is interesting that a few common basics have remained, and that these have been studied.

Have morality and ethics changed even more? Are there discernible basic points that do not change?

And back to the initial question: should art concern itself with ethics or, further down the road, politics?