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PHILOSOPHY of ARTS: a Contemporary Introduction PHILOSOPHY OF ART “This book will take its place as the very best introduction to the subject on the market… Carroll, because of his vast knowledge of the popular arts as well as traditional high arts, both old and new, is able to provide an enormous variety of examples that will speak to a wide audience.” Professor Peter Kivy, Rutgers University “This is analytic philosophy at its best: thorough, rigorous, even-handed, eminently readable throughout… Carroll’s book generates an enthusiasm for the subject and liveliness of debate which will guarantee that its student readership will profit from it and be engaged by it.” Professor Peter Lamarque, University of Hull Philosophy of Art is a textbook for undergraduate students interested in the topic of philosophical aesthetics. It aims to introduce the techniques of analytic philosophy in addition to a selection of the major topics in this field of inquiry. These include the representational theory of art, formalism, neo-formalism, aesthetic theories of art, neo- Wittgensteinianism, the Institutional Theory of Art, as well as historical approaches to the nature of art. Throughout the book, abstract philosophical theories are illustrated by examples of both traditional and contemporary art including frequent reference to the avant-garde. In this way the reader’s understanding of art theory as well as the appreciation of art is enriched. Noël Carroll is the Monroe C.Beardsley Professor of the Philosophy of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is currently also President of the American Society for Aesthetics and has been a documentary screenwriter and a journalist. His other books include The Philosophy of Horror (Routledge, 1990) and A Philosophy of Mass Art (1998). Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy Series Editor: Paul K.Moser Loyola University of Chicago This innovative, well-structured series is for students who have already done an introductory course in philosophy. Each book introduces a core general subject in contemporary philosophy and offers students an accessible but substantial transition from introductory to higher-level college work in that subject. The series is accessible to nonspecialists and each book clearly motivates and expounds the problems and positions introduced. An orientating chapter briefly introduces its topic and reminds readers of any crucial material they need to have retained from a typical introductory course. Considerable attention is given to explaining the central philosophical problems of a subject and the main competing solutions and arguments for those solutions. The primary aim is to educate students in the main problems, positions and arguments of contemporary philosophy rather than to convince students of a single position. The initial eight central books in the series are written by experienced authors and teachers, and treat topics essential to a well- rounded philosophy curriculum. Epistemology Robert Audi Ethics Harry Gensler Metaphysics Michael J.Loux Philosophy of Art Noël Carroll Philosophy of Language William G.Lycan Philosophy of Mind John Heil Philosophy of Religion Keith E.Yandell Philosophy of Science Alexander Rosenberg PHILOSOPHY OF ART A contemporary introduction Noël Carroll London and New York First published in 1999 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. © 1999 Noël Carroll All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-415-15963-6 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-15964-4 (pbk) ISBN 0-203-19723-2 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-19726-7 (GlassBook Format) To Peter Kivy, the Leader of the Band. Contents AcknowledgmentsAcknowledgmentsAcknowledgments xixixi IntroductionIntroductionIntroduction 111 What is philosophy? 2 The analytic philosophy of art 5 Analysing concepts 7 Some peculiarities of philosophical research 11 The structure of this book 13 The aims of this book 15 ChapterChapter 111 ArtArt andandand representationrepresentationrepresentation 181818 Part I Art as representation 19 Art, imitation and representation 19 The neo-representational theory of art 26 Part II What is representation? 33 Pictorial representation 33 Traditional approaches to pictorial representation 34 The conventionalist theory of pictorial representation 39 A neo-naturalist theory of pictorial representation 42 Representation across the arts 49 Chapter summary56 Annotated reading 56 ChapterChapter 222 ArtArt andandand expressionexpressionexpression 585858 Part I Art as expression 59 The expression theory of art 59 Objections to the expression theory of art 66 Part II Theories of expression 79 What is expression? 79 Expression, exemplification and metaphor 86 viii CONTENTS Some problems with the theory of metaphorical exemplification 93 Is expression always metaphorical? 95 Chapter summary 104 Annotated reading106 ChapterChapter 333 ArtArt andandand formformform 107107107 Part I Art as form 108 Formalism 108 Objections to formalism 115 Neoformalism 125 Part II What is artistic form? 137 Different views of artistic form 137 Form and function 142 Form and appreciation 148 Chapter summary 152 Annotated reading 153 ChapterChapter 444 ArtArt andandand aestheticaestheticaesthetic experienceexperienceexperience 155155155 Part I Aesthetic theories of art 156 Art and aesthetics 156 The aesthetic definition of art 160 Two versions of aesthetic experience 168 Objections to the aesthetic definition of art 174 Part II The aesthetic dimension 182 Aesthetic experience revisited 182 Aesthetic properties 189 Detection or projection? 192 Aesthetic experience and the experience of art 200 Chapter summary 202 Annotated reading 203 ChapterChapter 555 Art,Art,Art, definitiondefinitiondefinition andandand identificationidentificationidentification 205205205 Part I Against definition 206 Neo-Wittgensteinianism: art as an open concept 206 Objections to Neo-Wittgensteinianism 218 Part II Two contemporary definitions of art 224 The Institutional Theory of Art 224 Defining art historically 240 CONTENTS ix Part III Identifying art 249 Definition and identification 249 Identification and historical narration 251 Historical narratives: their strengths and weaknesses 258 Chapter summary 265 Annotated reading 266 Index 269 Acknowledgments The author wishes to thank Philip Alperson, Jim Anderson, Sally Banes, David Bordwell, Hugh Carroll III, Jinhee Choi, Dong-Ryul Choo, Peter Kivy, Peter Lamarque, Steven Nadler, Prashant Parikh and Elliott Sober for their generous suggestions for improving this book. They, of course, are not responsible for the errors herein. I don’t know who is. Introduction What is philosophy? The analytic philosophy of art Analysing concepts Some peculiarities of philosophical research The structure of this book The aims of this book Introduction What is philosophy? he word “philosophy” has many different meanings. Sometimes people tell you about their philosophy of life. They usually mean Tsomething like their deepest and most abiding beliefs. This is certainly an acceptable usage of the word in ordinary language but it is a broader conception of philosophy than that which will preoccupy us in this book. Herein, “philosophy” will generally refer to a certain academic discipline. Of course, like many academic disciplines, philosophy can be approached in a number of different ways. That is, there are many different schools of philosophy, such as existentialism, phenomenology, marxism, deconstructionism, and so on. Though related in various respects, the different schools of academic philosophy often have different aims and emphases. The type of philosophy that we will be exploring in this book is often called analytic philosophy. In fact, the title of this book could be accurately expanded as the Analytic Philosophy of Art: A Contemporary Introduction. This book is an introduction to some of the major techniques and central problems of the analytic philosophy of art. But what is analytic philosophy? It is a school of philosophy primarily practiced in the English-speaking world. Thus, it is sometimes called “Anglo- American” philosophy, though that is a somewhat misleading label because it is not by any means the only form of academic philosophy in the English- speaking world. However, it is a very prominent school, some might say the dominant school, of English-speaking philosophy, and it has exerted considerable influence throughout the twentieth century. But this is only to suggest the “where” and the “when” of analytic philosophy. The “what” remains to be explained. This school of thought is called analytic philosophy. So a natural first question is: “What exactly does this school of philosophy analyse?” Simplifying drastically, we might say that what analytic philosophy analyses INTRODUCTION 3 are concepts. That is why it is sometimes also called conceptual analysis. Though by this point in history, many philosophers would argue
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