Alien objections to historical definitions of art

British Journal of Aesthetics

Volumn 36, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 305-308

  Stecker, Robert ^a  

^a CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 63149115944     PISSN: 00070904     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/bjaesthetics/36.3.305     Document Type: Article

References (16)

1. Historical definitions are stated and defended in James Carney, 'The Style Theory of Art', Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 72 (1991), pp. 272-89;
2. James Carney, 'Defining Art Externally', British Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 34 (1994), pp. 114-23;
3. Jerrold Levinson, Music, Art and Metaphysics (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell U.P., 1990);
4. and Jerrold Levinson, 'Extending Art Historically', Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 51 (1993), pp. 411-23.
5. Gregory Currie, 'Aliens Too', Analysis, Vol. 53 (1993), pp. 116-18.
6. Stephen Davies, 'Definitions of Art', in E. Craig (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (Routledge forthcoming).
7. Davies argues for the superiority of institutional definitions in Stephen Davies, Definitions of Art (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell U.P., 1991).
8. Carney ('The Style Theory of Art', and 'Defining Art Externally') is the exponent of the style-historical approach while Levinson (Music, Art and Metaphysics and 'Extending Art Historically') is the exponent of the intentional-historical approach.
9. Noël Carroll has offered a historical narrative approach to identifying art in Noël Carroll, 'Art,Practice, Narrative', The Monist, Vol. 71 (1988), pp. 140-56;
10. Noël Carroll, 'Historical Narratives and the Philosophy of Art', Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 51 (1993), pp. 313-26;
11. and Noël Carroll, 'Identifying Art', in Robert Yanal (ed.), Institutions of Art (Pennsylvania State U.P., 1994); but he denies that these are attempts to define art in the sense of giving a set of necessary, jointly sufficient conditions for an item being an artwork.
12. Gregory Currie, 'Aliens Too', p. 116.
13. Carney, in 'Defining Art Externally', proposes the retroactivity strategy; Levinson proposes the similar intention strategy in 'Extending Art Historically'. That first art poses a problem for historical theories has been evident from their inception.
14. I have argued for the importance of the functional in defining art in Robert Stecker, 'The Boundaries of Art', British Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 30 (1993), pp. 266-72;
15. Robert Stecker, 'Defining Art: the Functionalism/Proceduralism Controversy', Southern Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 30 (1992), pp. 141-52;
16. and Robert Stecker, 'Historical Functionalism or the Four Factor Theory', British Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 34 (1994), pp. 255-65.