Introduction to the Philosophy of Art
Summary and commentary on Noël Carroll’s Philosophy of Art: A Contemporary Introduction
1. Analytic Philosophy: What Is It?
Analytic philosophy is the dominant philosophical tradition in the English-speaking world. But it is not merely a geographical label; it is a way of doing philosophy that profoundly shaped twentieth-century thought.
What exactly does analytic philosophy do?
At its core, analytic philosophy analyzes concepts. It breaks them down and examines the assumptions and ideas underlying them. The method employed by early analytic philosophers is often called conceptual analysis.
This method can be traced back as far as Plato. Although it has evolved considerably over time, its basic aim remains the same: to clarify and understand the concepts through which we think about the world.
2. What Are Concepts and What Are They For?
Noël Carroll argues that concepts are fundamental to human life. They organize our practices, beliefs, and actions. Without them, our experience of reality would be radically different.
Analytic philosophy examines concepts that play important roles in our lives and attempts to clarify their meaning and implications. These may range from moral concepts, such as justice, to mathematical concepts, such as number.
In this respect, analytic philosophy follows in the footsteps of Socrates, who walked around Athens questioning the meaning of concepts that many Athenians took for granted and demanding more satisfactory answers.
3. Philosophy Analyzing the Concepts of Other Disciplines
Why does philosophy analyze concepts used by other disciplines?
Why is analyzing concepts from other disciplines not a trivial activity? Give an example.
In this sense, philosophy is like the shadow of other fields: it accompanies them while continually asking what their fundamental concepts mean and what kinds of reasoning those fields employ.
The philosophy of science, philosophy of art, philosophy of law, and other branches of philosophy ask questions such as:
What criteria do we use to apply these concepts?
How are these concepts connected to one another in ways that allow a practice to achieve its goals?
By addressing these questions, analytic philosophy attempts to understand the foundations of our practices: the concepts and forms of reasoning that make those practices possible.
Example: Philosophy of Law
Consider the concept of law.
What is a law?
Is a law simply whatever a properly constituted legislature decides is a law, provided that the appropriate procedures have been followed?
Or must a genuine law derive from deeper principles?
If so, what kind of principles?
Should a law be consistent with:
constitutional principles?
fundamental moral principles?
human rights?
What arguments can be offered in favor of these different possibilities?
Under what conditions should we classify a judicial ruling as law?
By addressing questions such as these, legal professionals may become more aware of the conceptual foundations of their own practice.
These questions are not merely academic. They may matter, for example, when deciding whether a proposed piece of legislation is legally valid or invalid.
Exercise: Think of other examples in which clarifying a concept could have practical consequences.
4. Dividing the World Through Concepts
Try to answer the following questions:
a) Why can having concepts be understood as a way of dividing up the world?
Exercise: Imagine dividing the world using concepts different from the ones you normally use.
b) What does second-order inquiry mean?
c) How would we experience the world if the concepts we use meant something different from what we currently think they mean?
Analytic philosophers attempt to identify the criteria we use to categorize and understand the world. This is not merely a game with words. The purpose is to understand the foundations of our practices and concepts.
Unlike social scientists, analytic philosophers do not primarily look for patterns of behavior. Instead, they attempt to clarify the concepts that make our activities possible.
For example:
What does it really mean to call something a “law”?
What conditions must something satisfy in order to count as a law?
Throughout much of the twentieth century, analytic philosophy increasingly became a form of second-order inquiry.
Instead of directly studying physical objects, economic behavior, or works of art, philosophy investigates the concepts and assumptions involved in those practices.
Thus, we have:
philosophy of physics
philosophy of economics
philosophy of art
This is not the only way of doing philosophy. Moreover, philosophers from other traditions may also engage in conceptual analysis.
For example, a Marxist philosopher may ask:
What is exploitation?
In attempting to provide an analysis of exploitation, that philosopher may also employ conceptual analysis.
5. Analytic Philosophy of Art
What is analytic philosophy of art?
Analytic philosophy of art examines the fundamental concepts that make artistic creation, thought, and practice possible.
These concepts include:
Art
Representation
Expression
Artistic form
The aesthetic
Interpretation
Forgery
Creativity
Artistic value
among many others.
Philosophers of art may also investigate specific art forms, such as literature, painting, film, or music, or analyze concepts associated with artistic genres, such as fiction or tragedy.
6. The Theoretical and Practical Importance of Concepts
Why is defining concepts theoretically and practically important?
Consider both their personal and institutional importance.
Understanding concepts is crucial to the functioning of artistic practices because concepts allow us to classify, understand, interpret, and evaluate works of art.
A. Museums and Funding Institutions
Without some conception of what counts as art, institutions such as museums, arts councils, and governments would have difficulty deciding:
what to collect,
whom to fund,
which institutions deserve support.
Analytic philosophy of art attempts to clarify these concepts and thereby contribute to our understanding of artistic practices.
Example
Without some idea of how to classify certain objects and performances as artworks, the Museum of Modern Art would not know what to collect, and an arts funding agency would not know whom to fund.
Exercise: Imagine a museum organized according to your own definition of art. What kinds of objects would it exhibit? What kinds of objects would it exclude?
B. Personal Importance
Classifying an object or situation as an “artwork” can significantly change how we respond to and experience it.
Example 1: Night Crossing
Imagine a couple sitting face to face, staring silently at one another.
If we do not regard this situation as an artwork, we might simply ignore them or look away out of politeness.
But suppose we are told that what we are seeing is a performance artwork, such as Marina Abramović and Ulay’s Nightsea Crossing.
Our response changes dramatically.
We may:
observe the scene carefully,
attempt to interpret it,
place it within the history of art,
compare it with other artworks,
consider what it expresses,
examine the feelings it produces in us,
evaluate its artistic value.
We might praise it for its originality or criticize it for being boring or derivative. Either way, our response is radically different because we categorize it as art.
The concept of art therefore functions somewhat like a lens: it transforms our perception and response.
Once we categorize something as art, we activate a set of expectations, abilities, and knowledge that allow us to engage with it differently.
Example 2: ORLAN and The Reincarnation of Saint-Orlan
Consider a surgical operation.
In everyday life, we would probably not regard surgery as entertainment or as an object of aesthetic contemplation.
But our perspective changes when surgery is presented as part of an artistic performance, as in the work of ORLAN.
Once we perceive the operation as an artwork, we may begin to examine it aesthetically and symbolically.
We might ask:
Why did ORLAN decide to undergo surgery?
What does the performance say about personal identity?
How does it relate to society's ideals of beauty?
How does it relate to the history of art?
What does it suggest about the human body?
Interpretation and Analysis
Once something is categorized as art, interpretation and analysis become appropriate activities.
Our response is therefore radically different from the response we would have to an ordinary surgical procedure.
This illustrates the importance of the concept of art in shaping our understanding and experience of the world.
Exercise: Think of something that does not satisfy your own criteria for art. Now imagine that someone tells you that it is an artwork according to a different theory of art. Would you begin to interpret it differently?
Categorizing Something as an Artwork
Define the following concepts:
Representation
Expression
Artistic form
Aesthetic experience
Aesthetic properties
Categorizing something as an artwork triggers a series of responses and activities in us as spectators.
In order to appreciate and understand art, therefore, we need some understanding of the concept of art.
Analytic philosophy of art attempts to clarify and articulate the elements involved in that concept and in related concepts such as:
Representation — Expression — Artistic Form — Aesthetic Experience — Aesthetic Properties
7. Conceptual Analysis
There is substantial debate about what concepts are and what it means to analyze them.
Nevertheless, there is a standard approach to conceptual analysis. It is not universally accepted, but it can serve as a useful guide for philosophical inquiry.
The Standard Approach
Concepts are categories.
To apply a concept is to classify something as belonging to the corresponding category.
To analyze a concept is to break it down into its relevant components — that is, into its conditions of application.
Analyzing a concept can therefore also involve defining it in terms of its:
necessary conditions and sufficient conditions.
This kind of definition is sometimes called a real or essential definition.
Example: Bachelor
Consider the concept bachelor.
Traditionally:
Bachelor = adult male + unmarried
Being male and being unmarried are individually necessary conditions for being a bachelor.
Taken together with the relevant conditions, they are sufficient for applying the concept.
In other words:
Necessary condition: something that must be present.
Sufficient condition: something or a set of conditions that guarantees that the concept applies.
When philosophers attempt to provide a real or essential definition of art, the resulting definitions sometimes develop into theories of art.
Objections to Conceptual Analysis
Objection 1
We successfully apply many concepts without using necessary and sufficient conditions.
Response
First, we do not yet know whether every philosophically interesting concept can be successfully analyzed using this method.
Second, even when the method fails to produce a perfect definition, the attempt itself can be philosophically useful.
It may help us:
discover important features of a phenomenon,
achieve greater conceptual clarity,
identify hidden assumptions,
recognize the complexity of what we are attempting to explain.
Example: Representation
Suppose we propose:
Art is necessarily representational.
Is it?
Searching for counterexamples immediately forces us to think more carefully about art.
What about abstract painting?
What about instrumental music?
What about architecture?
Even if our original definition fails, the counterexamples teach us something about the concept of art.
Another Example: Self-Expression
Suppose someone claims:
Self-expression is sufficient for something to be art.
Is it?
If I shout because I am angry, I am expressing myself.
But have I created an artwork?
Again, searching for counterexamples helps us clarify the concept.
Some Peculiarities of Analytic Philosophy
Analytic philosophy is not a social science, and treating it as if it were one can be frustrating.
This does not mean that scientists cannot do philosophy. A scientist can sometimes operate as a scientist and at other times enter a philosophical mode of inquiry.
What does this mean?
Certain philosophical questions cannot simply be settled by conducting surveys or observing nature.
Instead, they require conceptual and logical investigation.
Some of the tools used in this kind of investigation include:
real or essential definitions,
necessary and sufficient conditions,
counterexamples,
reductio ad absurdum arguments,
thought experiments,
appeals to intuitions.
Why Not Decide What Art Is by Voting?
Suppose we conducted a survey and asked ten thousand people:
“What is art?”
Would the most popular answer automatically give us the correct definition?
Not necessarily.
People may have mistaken assumptions about art. For example, many people might believe that artworks must represent something recognizable — an assumption that becomes particularly problematic when we consider much twentieth-century and contemporary art.
A survey can tell us what people believe art is.
But this is not necessarily the same as determining what art is.
One way of expressing the distinction is:
Social scientists investigate what is the case. Philosophers often investigate what must be the case.
This is why a social scientist may use questionnaires, observations, and statistical analysis, whereas an analytic philosopher may rely on arguments, logic, counterexamples, and thought experiments.
For someone approaching philosophy with strongly empirical expectations, this can sometimes seem strange or even frustrating.
After all, philosophical reasoning may involve highly counterintuitive cases and what is sometimes called “armchair philosophy.”
But the goal is different: rather than measuring how people happen to use a concept, the philosopher is trying to understand the structure of the concept itself.
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