ARTHUR DANTO’S ONTOLOGY OF AESTHETICS UPON POP ART A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY BURÇAK İSMET IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY FEBRUARY 2014 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ahmet İnam Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Doç. Dr. Barış Parkan Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Sabri Büyükdüvenci (A.Ü. DTCF) Doç. Dr. Barış Parkan (METU, PHIL) Prof. Dr. Ahmet İnam (METU, PHIL) Prof. Dr. Yasin Ceylan (METU, PHIL) Doç. Dr. Ertuğrul R. Turan (A.Ü. DTCF) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Burçak İsmet Signature iii ABSTRACT ARTHUR DANTO’S ONTOLOGY OF AESTHETICS UPON POP ART İsmet, Burçak Ph.D., Department of Philosophy Supervisor: Doç. Dr. Barış Parkan February 2014, 135 pages The main objective of this dissertation is to examine Arthur Danto’s method of indiscernibles in his theory of aesthetics. In order to explicate this conception, Danto’s method of indiscernibles is elucidated by means of Andy Warhol’s works of Pop Art. Through this study Danto’s critical approach against traditional realism in philosophy of art is examined and Danto’s renewed solution for the reality problem of artworks is exposed with the acquaintance of Warhol’s art. After the examination of Danto’s use of indiscernibles in order to generate new realism in the philosophy of art, Richard Wollheim’s method of seeing-in is explicated in order to criticize Danto’s method. Danto dismisses the material quality of artworks at the expense of his conception of indiscernibles and Wollheim restores the material with his theory of seeing-in. This dissertation is centered on the critique of Danto’s conception of art and Wollheim’s understanding of art is used to underscore the deficiencies in Danto’s theory. iv Keywords: Pop Art, Brillo Box, Indiscernibles, Seeing-in, Pentimento v ÖZ ARTHUR DANTO’NUN POP SANATI EKSENİNDE ESTETİK ONTOLOJİSİ İsmet, Burçak Doktora, Felsefe Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Barış Parkan Şubat 2014, 135 sayfa Bu tezin temel amacı Arthur Danto’nun sanat felsefesinde fark edilemez olanı yöntem olarak kullanmasını incelemektir. Fark edilemez kavramını açık bir biçimde ortaya koymak için, Andy Warhol’un Pop sanat eserleri örnek olarak incelenmiştir. Bu çalışmada Danto’nun sanat felsefesindeki geleneksel gerçekçiliğe karşı duruşu ve de Warhol’un sanatının katkısıyla Danto’nun sanat eserlerinin gerçeklik problemine dair sunduğu yeni çözümler ortaya konmuştur. Danto’nun sanat felsefesinde fark edilemez olan yöntemini kullanarak yeni gerçekçiliği oluşturması incelendikten sonra, bu yöntemi eleştirmek için Richard Wollheim’ın içinde-görme metodu incelenmiştir. Danto fark edilemez olan teorisini uygulayabilmek adına sanat eserlerindeki materyal niteliği yok etmişken, Wollheim içinde-görme teorisiyle sanat eserlerine materyal özelliklerini geri yüklemiştir. Bu tez, sonuç itibariyle Danto’nun sanat anlayışının bir eleştirisi olarak yazılmış ve de Wollheim’ın sanat eserine yaklaşımı, Danto’nun teorisindeki eksiklikleri vurgulamak adına ele alınmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Pop Sanatı, Brillo Kutusu, Fark edilemez, İçinde-görme, Pentimento vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................ vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................... ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................... x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1 1.1. Pop Art’s New Realism ........................................................... 1 1.2. Arthur Danto & Richard Wollheim ........................................... 5 1.3. The Subject Matter ................................................................ 13 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF ART: THE ARTWORLD ......... 16 2.1. Imitation Theory .................................................................... 16 2.2. Reality Theory ....................................................................... 20 2.3. Danto’s Philosophy of Art ...................................................... 25 2.3.1. The Essentialist Account of Art ........................................ 27 2.3.2. Pop Art’s New Realism .................................................... 30 2.3.3. Artworks: Not Visual but Conceptual ............................... 34 3. THE ONTOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE DEFINITION OF ART ................................................................................................. 40 3.1. The Goal of Transfiguration of the Commonplace ................ 41 3.2. Representation ...................................................................... 44 3.2.1. The Picture Theory of Language ..................................... 47 3.2.2. Danto & Plato................................................................... 49 3.2.3. Danto & Wittgenstein ....................................................... 52 3.2.4. Danto & Nietzsche ........................................................... 55 3.3. The Method of Indiscernibles ................................................ 57 vii 3.3.1. The Context of Indiscernibles........................................... 58 3.3.2. The Semantics of Indiscernibles ...................................... 61 3.3.3. Artworld: The Theoretical Context .................................... 64 3.3.4. Form and Content ............................................................ 66 3.4. The End of Art ....................................................................... 69 3.5. Shortcomings of Danto’s Account ......................................... 72 4. ART RECONSIDERED: WOLLHEIM ON CANVAS ......................... 75 4.1. The Surface Regained .......................................................... 75 4.2. The Interpretation .................................................................. 79 4.3. The Intention ......................................................................... 85 4.4. Pentimenti ............................................................................. 89 4.5. Wollheim vs. Danto ............................................................... 94 5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 99 APPENDICES ........................................................................................... 105 REFERENCES ......................................................................................... 111 CURRICULUM VITAE .............................................................................. 116 TURKISH SUMMARY ............................................................................... 117 TEZ FOTOKOPİSİ İZİN FORMU .............................................................. 135 viii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES Figure 1. Andy Warhol, Brillo Box ....................................................... 106 Figure 2. Marcel Duchamp, Fountain .................................................. 107 Figure 3. Ad Reinhardt, Black Monochrome ........................................ 108 Figure 4. Andy Warhol, Blue Electric Chair ........................................ 109 Figure 5. Andy Warhol, Blue Electric Chair ......................................... 110 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A Arthur Danto, “The Artworld” AIO Richard Wollheim, Art and Its Objects: An Introduction to Aesthetics ART Arthur Danto, “Artworks and Real Things” BB Arthur Danto, Beyond the Brillo Box: The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective OAM Richard Wollheim, On Art and the Mind PA Richard Wollheim, Painting as an Art PI Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations TC Arthur Danto, Transfiguration of the Commonplace: A Philosophy of Art x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. Pop Art’s New Realism All throughout the history and philosophy of art, there has been an enduring question about the reality of artworks. Started from Plato, until Modernism the artworks – representations have been considered as mimesis. By means of theory of mimesis the artworks are taken to be inferior to physical objects, that is to say they are ontologically dependent on what is called real. For both Plato and Aristotle every artwork is a copy of nature or natural states. The essence of drama, for instance is an imitation of appearances; that is to say, actors imitate the actions of whomever they represent. Painters also imitate the appearances of things therefore painting is essentially a matter of imitation or of verisimilitude. Therefore the mimetic