Philosophy and Literature Network

The Philosophy and Literature Network's Analytic Aesthetics Seminar will be holding, over the course of 15 sessions, from February through June of 2010, a Workshop on Definitions of ‘Art’. Concentrating on the vexata quaestio of aesthetics in the analytical tradition (“What is ‘art’?”), the first objective of the Workshop is to embrace a vision combining the history of limitations and conceptual problems encountered in the different types of answers to this question raised during the last fifty years. Starting from a selection chosen from a relevant bibliography, various influential essays, representative of the available definitional models, will be read and discussed during the course of the 15 sessions. We shall try to assess the meta-methodological conditions for the feasibility of any definitional project, without losing sight that such task may be impossible.  

By registering, workshop participants will receive a collection of texts to read in advance, and moreover, a bibliography, both updated and extensive, will be recommended on the question of the definition of ‘art’. Registration will be accepted over the entire Workshop period and participation is at no cost. Write to us to complete registration or for more information. All of the workshop sessions will take place in Room 4.03 at the I&D Building at the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences at the New University of Lisbon. In particular indicated cases, the sessions will be preceded by conferences from the Permanent Lectures series 

Program

3 Feb | 11.30 | Alberto Arruda

Wittgenstein, Investigações Filosóficas [selecção relevante], Philosophical Investigations, trad. Anscombe 3ª ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1968

Davies «Defining Art», The Philosophy of Art, Oxford: Blackwell (2006), 26-51.

Stecker «Definition of Art», Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics, ed. Jerrold Levinson, Oxford: Oxford University Press (2003), 136-154.

10 Feb | 11.30 | Humberto Brito

Morris Weitz, «The Role of Theory in Aesthetics», JAAC 15 (1956), 27-35; Aesthetics and the philosophy of art: the analytic tradition: an anthology, ed. Lamarque e Olsen, Oxford: Blackwell (2004), 12-18.

Stephen Davies, «Weitz’s Anti-Essentialism» (1991), Aesthetics and the philosophy of art: the analytic tradition: an anthology, ed. Lamarque e Olsen, Oxford: Blackwell (2004), 63-68.

24 Feb | 11.30 | João Trinité Rosa

Maurice Mandelbaum, «Family resemblances and generalization concerning the arts», American Philosophical Quarterly 2 (1965), 219-28.

3 Mar | 11.30 | Pedro Tiago Serras

William E. Kennick «Does traditional aesthetics rest on a mistake» Mind 67 (1958), 317-34.

17 Mar | 11.30 | Ana Cláudia Santos

Monroe C. Beardsley «An Aesthetic Definition of Art», What is Art?, ed. H. Curtler, New York: Haven Publications, 15-29; Aesthetics and the philosophy of art: the analytic tradition: an anthology, ed. Lamarque e Olsen, Oxford: Blackwell (2004), 55-62.

24 Mar | 11.30 | Nuno Amado

Arthur C. Danto, «The Artworld», Journal of philosophy 61 (1964), 571-584. Aesthetics and the philosophy of art: the analytic tradition: an anthology, ed. Lamarque e Olsen, Oxford: Blackwell (2004), 27-35.  

Arthur C. Danto, «The Transfiguration of the Commonplace», The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol.33, no.2, (Winter, 1974), 139-148.

7 Apr | 11.30 | Humberto Brito

Berys Gaut, «‘Art’ as a Cluster Concept», Theories of Art Today, ed. N. Carrol, Madison: U of Wisconsin Press (2000), 25-44.

21 Apr | 11.30 | Nuno Amado

George Dickie, «The New Institutional Theory of Art», Aesthetics and the philosophy of art: the analytic tradition: an anthology, ed. Lamarque e Olsen, Oxford: Blackwell (2004), 47-54.

George Dickie, «The Institutional Theory of Art», Theories of Art Today, ed. N. Carrol, Madison: U of Wisconsin Press (2000), 93-108.

28 Apr | 11.30 | Carla Quevedo

Kathleen Stock, «Historical Definitions of Art», Art and Essence, ed. Davies e Sukla, Westport: Praeger (2003), 159-76.

5 May | 11.30 | Tiago Silva

James D. Carney, «The Style Theory of Art», Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 72 (1991), 273-89.

9 Jun | Final session 9.30-13.00

Panel 1: 9.30-11.00

Frederico Pedreira

Stecker, «Is it reasonable to attempt to define art today?», Theories of Art Today, ed. N. Carrol, Madison: U of Wisconsin Press (2000), 45-64.

Carlos Alves Pereira

Jerrold Levinson, «Defining Art Historically», BJA 19(3) (1979), 232-250; Aesthetics and the philosophy of art: the analytic tradition: an anthology, ed. Lamarque e Olsen, Oxford: Blackwell (2004), 35-46.

Jerrold Levinson, «The Irreducible Historicality of the Concept of Art», BJA 42 (2002), 367-79.

Sara Eckerson

Noël Carroll, «Historical Narratives and the Philosophy of Art», JAAC 51 (1993), 313-26.

George W.S. Bailey, «Art: Life after Death?», Theories of Art Today, ed. N. Carrol, Madison: U of Wisconsin Press (2000), 160-74.

Panel 2: 11.30-13.00

Alberto Arruda

Zangwill «Groundrules in the Philosophy of Art», Philosophy 70 (1995), 533-44; «The Creative Theory of Art», American Philosophical Quarterly 32 (1995), 307-23.

Bernardo Palmeirim

Stephen Davies «Non-Western Art and Art’s Definition», Theories of Art Today, ed. N. Carrol, Madison: U of Wisconsin Press (2000), 199-216.

Dennis Dutton «But they don’t have our concept of Art», Theories of Art Today, ed. N. Carrol, Madison: U of Wisconsin Press (2000), 217-38;

ON-LINE RESOURCES

• Thomas Adajian, «The Definition of Art», Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2007)
• Online Conference in Aesthetics: Arthur Danto's Transfiguration of the Commonplace, 25 years later

REFERENCES

• Beardsley, Monroe, 1982, The Aesthetic Point of View, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
• Carroll, Noel, 2004, “Non-Perceptual Aesthetic Properties.” British Journal of Aesthetics, 44: 413-423.
• Carroll, Noel, 2000, (ed.) Theories of Art Today, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
• Carroll, Noel, 2001, Beyond Aesthetics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Davies, David, 2003, Art as Performance, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
• Danto, Arthur, 1981, The Transfiguration of the Commonplace, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Danto, Arthur, 1986, The Philosophical Disenfranchisement of Art: A Philosophy of Art, New York: Columbia UP.
• Davies, Stephen, 1991, Definitions of Art, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Davies, Stephen, 1997, “First Art and Art's Definition,” Southern Journal of Philosophy, 35: 19-34
• Davies, Stephen, 2000, “Non-Western Art and Art's Definition,” in Carroll (ed.), Theories of Art Today, pp. 199-217.
• Davies, Stephen, and Sukla, Ananta, 2003, Art and Essence, Westport, CT: Praeger.
• Davies, Stephen, 2006, The Philosophy of Art, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
• Dean, Jeffery, 2003, “The Nature of Concepts and the Definition of Art,” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 61: 29-35.
• Devitt, Michael, 2001, “The Metaphysics of Truth,” in Michael Lynch (ed.), The Nature of Truth. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 579-611.
• DeClerq, Rafael, 2002, “The Concept of an Aesthetic Property,” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 60: 167–172.
• Dickie, George, 1984, The Art Circle, New York: Haven.
• Dickie, George, 2001, Art and Value, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
• Dissanayake, Ellen, 1990, What is Art For?, Bellingham: University of Washington Press.
• Dutton, Denis, 2006, “A Naturalist Definition of Art,” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 64: 367–377.
• Gaut, Berys, 2000, “The Cluster Account of Art,” in Carroll 2000, pp. 25-45.
• Goehr, Lydia, 1994, The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Goldman, Alan, 1995, Aesthetic Value, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Goodman, Nelson, 1968, Languages of Art: An Approach to a Theory of Symbols, Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
• Iseminger, Gary, 2004, The Aesthetic Function of Art, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Janaway, Christopher, 1998, Images of Excellence: Plato's Critique of the Arts, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Kant, Immanuel, 2000, Critique of the Power of Judgment, trans. Paul Guyer and Eric Matthews. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Kivy, Peter, 1997, Philosophies of the Arts, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Kristeller, Paul, 1951, “The Modern System of the Arts,” Journal of the History of Ideas, 12: 496–527.
• Levinson, Jerrold, 1990, Music, Art, and Metaphysics, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Levinson, Jerrold, 2005, “What Are Aesthetic Properties?” Proceedings of the Arisotelian Society, 79: 191–210.
• Matravers, Derek, 2000, “The Institutional Theory: A Protean Creature,” British Journal of Aesthetics, 40: 242–250.
• Shelley, James, 2003, “The Problem of Non-Perceptual Art.” British Journal of Aesthetics, 43: 363-378.
• Sibley, Frank, 1959, “Aesthetic Concepts,” Philosophical Review, 74: 135-159.
• Shiner, Larry, 2001, The Invention of Art, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Shiner, Larry, 2003, “Western and Non-Western Concepts of Art: Universality and Authenticity” in Davies and Sukla (eds.), Art and Essence, pp. 143-157.
• Stecker, Robert, 1997, Artworks: Definition, Meaning, Value, University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
• Stecker, Robert, 2005, Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
• Tilghman, Benjamin, 1984, But Is It Art?, Oxford: Blackwell.
• Walton, Kendall, 1997, “Review of Art and the Aesthetic,” Philosophical Review, 86: 97-101.
• Walton, Kendall, 2007, “Aesthetics—What?, Why?, and Wherefore?” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 65: 147–162.
• Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1968, Philosophical Investigations, Oxford: Blackwell.
• Weitz, Morris, 1956, “The Role of Theory in Aesthetics,” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 15: 27-35.
• Zangwill, Nick, 1995a, “Groundrules in the Philosophy of Art,” Philosophy, 70: 533–544.
• Zangwill, Nick, 1995b, “The Creative Theory of Art,” American Philosophical Quarterly, 32: 315-332
• Zangwill, Nick, 2001, The Metaphysics of Beauty, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Zemach, Eddy, 1997, Real Beauty, University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.