Theories of Art Today (Hardcover)

by Noel Carroll (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“Unquestionably the most authoritative and up-to-date collection of materials on a very important philosophical topic. Noël Carroll has done a masterful job of assembling a first-class cast of scholars who have been highly prominent in the ongoing debate over the role of theory in aesthetics. They are concerned with the question of how we can circumscribe the enterprise (or objects) of art in an intellectual environment that is generally hostile to real definition. Public policy makers concerned with public art, K–12 art teachers, students of cultural history, art critics, and many others will naturally be interested in this subject.”—Ronald Moore, University of Washington–Seattle



“Carroll is our foremost interpreter of how philosophical aesthetics has developed, and his way of laying out the story is always illuminating.”—Anita Silvers, San Francisco State University



Product Description
What is art? The contributors to Theories of Art Today  address the assertion that the term “art” no longer holds meaning. They explore a variety of issues including: aesthetic and institutional theories of art, feminist perspectives on the philosophy of art, the question of whether art is a cluster concept, and the relevance of tribal art to philosophical aesthetics. Contributors to this book include such distinguished philosophers and historians as Arthur Danto, Joseph Margolis, and George Dickie.



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Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (February 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299163504
• ISBN-13: 978-0299163501
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,154,631 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good argument against the Intentional Fallacy notion, December 23, 2008

By	Michael A Neulander "Political Philosophy" (VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Theories of Art Today (Paperback)

I read this book for a graduate seminar on the philosophy of art. An interesting facet of literature is how fiction is intentionally used by an author to introduce and argue non-fictional ideas and theories. This case in point is examined by Noël Carroll in his book "Theories of Art Today." Carroll astutely argues that if the "intentional fallacy" argument rests on the premise that "all literature is fictional," then this notion is problematic. Carroll observes that there are plenty of non-fictional passages in fictional books that authors insert to espouse philosophical or scientific theories, and that fiction is sometimes used as a "vehicle" to carry these ideas to the reader that they would ordinarily have a hard time getting out into the public in a "dry" treatise. Good examples of this notion are the novels written by Ayn Rand. Rand intentionally used several of her novels such as, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, both popular works of fiction, to espouse her libertarian philosophical theory of "objectivism." In addition, Carroll understands the interests that readers have, namely the "conversational interests" they have in "communion" with or "communicating" with the author through reading the text. Carroll wisely perceives that readers have a conversational interest in literature; a conversation of wanting to understand what the author is communicating. Thus, Carroll correctly argues, "We want to understand the author, even if that will lead to rejecting his or her point of view."

I recommend this work for anyone interested in philosophy, philosophy of art, and textual criticism.