Essentialism and Historicism in Danto's Philosophy of Art
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4495385 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael Kelly (0009-0009-2238-0546) |
| Year | 1998 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 30-43 |
| Publication date | 1998-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History and Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2656 • E-ISSN: 1468-2303 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/0018-2656.661998066 |
| OpenAlex | W2053669223 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
Arthur C. Danto has long defended essentialism in the philosophy of art, yet he has been interpreted by many as a historicist. This essentialism/historicism conflict in the interpretation of his work reflects the same conflict both within his thought and, more importantly, within modern art itself. Danto's strategy for resolving this conflict involves, among other things, a Bildungsroman of modern art failing to discover its essence, an essentialist definition of art provided by philosophy which is indemnified against history, and a thesis about the end of art once it has been defined. Is this strategy successful, or does it result, as I argue, in a philosophical disenfranchisement of art of precisely the type that Danto himself has criticized
Analytic philosophy · Contemporary philosophy · Epistemology · Essentialism · Historicism · Interpretation (philosophy) · Art, Politics, and Modernism · Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art · Philosophy · Visual Culture and Art Theory
| Citations per year | 0.09 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2015 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |