OK, I know we asked for it by our territorial grabs and desire to play amateur academic, but let's step back. For centuries it was to Christian scriptures. Then their was the brief, but for now discredited, modernist period where artists such as Rienhardt could proclaim that art was something unto itself. I think it is simply a yearning for freedom. Let's be clear.
Artists are often bad boys and girls.
They would rather play than study. Ethics must play a part, just as it does in all endeavors, but let's focus on inclusion and access rather than proscriptions for the art itself. Art is indefensible. I have seen over the years a gradual chilling effect as academic discourse entered the art making process. Artists needed jobs.