Danto's Philosophy Of Art From The Perspective Of Philosophical Hermeneutics

Arthur C.Danto(1924-2013)is a prominent American analytical philosopher,art philosopher and art critic.His philosophy of art consists of three parts:ontology of art,philosophy of art history and aesthetics,respectively referred to as the definition of art,the end-of-art thesis and post-modern aesthetics.Danto's philosophy of art covers the research fields such as art,history and language,involving such topics as understanding and truth.This dissertation takes the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics,applying such concepts as"understanding","effective history" and "tradition" to explore,analyze and evaluate the three basic components in Danto's philosophy of art—the definition of art,the end-of-art thesis and aesthetics.The dissertation aims at enriching the studies on Danto's philosophy of art and giving a deeper understanding of Danto's overall philosophy.This dissertation consists of six chapters.The first chapter is Introduction,which gives an overview of the research background,significance of the research,present studies on Danto,as well as the research framework and methods.The research raises three questions based on the studies home and abroad.(1)Whether Danto's definition of art has the tendency of "authorial intentionalism";(2)Whether the end-of-art thesis has position of "anti-historical objectivism";(3)Whether his post-modern asthetics has the position of "anti-tradition".In order to answer the three questions,this dissertation takes the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics,centers around the "what-is-art" problem and explores the connotations of the three components of Danto's philosophy of art,reflecting on its progressiveness and limitations so as to give possible solutions.The research methods include textual close reading,historical approach and comparative approach.The second chapter is Background and Theoretical Origins of Danto's Philosophy of Art,which gives an account of historical background and theoretical influences of Danto's philosophy of art.The aim of this chapter is clarify the problem domains,the rationale that Danto uses to construct the three components of his philosophy of art and its possible solutions to the questions.Danto's philosophy of-art has two origins.(1)Historically,Danto's philosophy of art is a response to the end of modern art and the beginning of post-modern art;(2)Theoretically,Danto is mainly influenced by the scientism in analytical philosophy,humanism in Continental philosophy and Zen idea in Oriental philosophy.The above historical and theoretical influences result in the combination of Scientism and Humanism in his philosophy of art.The third chapter is Reconciliation of Essentialism and Historicism in Danto's Definition of Art,which explores Danto's ontology of art,including the origin,meaning and hermeneutical analysis of the definition of art so as to evaluate Danto's definition of art.Danto's definition of art signifies in three ways.(1)Danto's definition of art is based on the criticism and integration of the traditional definitions of art,including the criticism on the"internal essentialism" in functional definitions,criticism on "non-essentialism" in procedural definitions and inheritance of "historical dimension" from historical definitions.(2)The definition of art includes "the Artworld" with historical horizon,two essential criteria of art—meaning and embodiment,the contextual criterion "interpretation" and the exclusion of traditional "beauty",therefore being both an essentialist and a historicist one.(3)The dissertation explores "intentionalism" in Danto's definition of art from three aspects of"understanding"—play,language and history.Viewed from "play",Danto admits the constructive role of interpretation in the transfiguration of art,but he emphasizes the authors'intentions therefore results in actual "intentionalism".From the perspective of "language",Danto holds that art manifests the world,but this manifestation is only "one-way expression"due to the over-emphasis on art's rhetorical power.Viewed from "history",Danto realizes the timeliness of art,but he ignores the synchronicity of it therefore only ends up in "historical contextualism".Chapter four is Fusion of Historical Objectivity and Subjectivity in Danto's the End-of-Art Thesis,which focuses on the analysis of Danto's philosophy of art history,including the origins,the connotations and the hermeneutical evaluations of the end-of-art thesis so as to determine the nature of Danto's philosophy of art history.Danto's philosophy of art history signifies in three aspects.(1)Danto's the end-of-art thesis is both inherited and developed from traditional end-of-art theories.It inherits but transcends Hegelian historicity of art,Adorno's rebellion of art and Hans Belting's narrativity of art.(2)The end-of-art thesis has three connotations:the end of art by philosophy,the end of master historical narratives in art history,and the beginning of post-historical art,therefore showing the fusion of objectivity and subjectivity of history.(3)The dissertation evaluates Danto's contradictory historical views in the end-of-art thesis from three characteristics of "effective history"—dasein,openness and synchroneity.From the concept of "Dasein",Danto's strategy of historical narrative shows anti-scientism.From the openness of historical understanding,Danto's the end-of-art thesis tends to be a closed assertion beyond history,therefore demonstrates"historical objectivism".From the aspect of synchroneity,Danto highlights the separation of historical stages of art's development but ignores the continuity of these phases,therefore shows his"anti-traditional" consciousness.Chapter five is Convergence of Perceptual and Rational Beauty in Danto's Aesthetics under "Tradition",which gives an interpretation of Danto's aesthetics,including his critique of Aesthetics of Beauty,the connotations of his post-modern aesthetics and hermeneutical comments on it so as to assess Danto's aesthetics.Danto's aesthetics signifies in three ways.(1)Danto's aesthetics is actually a reversal of traditional aesthetics of beauty,targeting against Moore's aesthetics of "unity of good and beauty",Kant's theory of "aesthetic universality" and Fry's aesthetics against "Imitation".(2)Danto's aesthetics is essentially aesthetics of grotesque,combining perceptual beauty with rational beauty.It consists of four elements:internal beauty as artistic beauty,destruction and division as expressions to the world,ugliness and pain as targets of beauty,interpretation and meditation as aesthetic effects.(3)The dissertation reflects upon "anti-traditionalism" of Danto's aesthetics from three aspects of "tradition"—continuity,dasein and dialogue.Viewed from the continuity of tradition,Danto emphasizes the division of rational beauty in post-modern art from perceptible beauty in traditional art and formalist beauty in modern art,which shows a tendency to "tradition-separatism".In terms of dasein,though the interpretive beauty in Danto's sense requires the viewers' interpretation,it stresses on the subject-object dichotomy and eventually ends up in "aesthetic subjectivity".From the characteristic of dialogue,Danto expands the categories of beauty with the emphasis on the uniqueness of post-modern aesthetics,resulting in the ranking of different forms of beauty,which leads to "aesthetic hierarchy".Chapter six is Conclusion,which summarizes the dissertation in four parts:hermeneutical evaluation and enlightenment of Danto's philosophy of art,significance of Danto's philosophy of art to Chinese art,nature and aim of Danto's Philosophy and innovative points.(1)There are both advantages and limitations of Danto's philosophy of art from the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics.On the one hand,Danto 's philosophy of art legalizes post-modern art,generalizes the inner structure of art history and expands the categories of aesthetics.On the other hand,it tends to contain "intentionalism","contradictory historical views" and "anti-traditionalism",therefore lacks openness and dialogue.(2)The nature of Danto's philosophy of art is to balance the relationship between art and philosophy,and between the perceptual and the rational through distinguishing two indiscernibles.His philosophy of history,philosophy of action and philosophy of knowledge all apply the same strategies,aiming at breaking the barriers between analytical philosophy and Continental philosophy,perception and reason,natural sciences and human sciences,which is consequentially characterized by the reconciliation of Scientism and Humanism.(3)The tolerance and pluralism that Danto's philosophy of art emphasizes shed some light on Chinese art both practically and theoretically;however,due to the different historical contexts,China should not follow Western art blindly but construct its own art based on national conditions and values.(4)The dissertation is innovative in three points.Firstly,it analyzes and reconstructs Danto's philosophy of art from the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics,and points out that his philosophy of art is characterized by the combination of Essentialism and Historicism,therefore being an art theory with fusion of horizons.Secondly,starting from some core concepts in philosophical hermeneutics,it reflects on the limitations of Danto's philosophy of art,concluding with "internationalism","contradictory historical views" and"anti-traditionalism" in his art theory,thus providing new possible ways to construct contemporary theory of art.Thirdly,starting from the concept of "effective history" in philosophical hermeneutics,it re-interprets Danto's "the end-of-art thesis" and constructs his view on history of art that centers around "narrative strategy",thus providing new insights for the researches on the end-of-art problem.Danto's philosophy of art itself is the knowledge and understanding on spiritual inheritance such as art and history.It is Danto's personal reflections on traditional art and modern art generated from his historical standpoint of post-modern art,therefore it is a product resulted from the interplay of Dasein and art history,through the mediation of past,present and future,and under the principles of fusion of horizons as well as effective history.Danto's philosophy of art,like any other art theory,contributes only partly to the truth of the humanities,which is always open to the future without an end.Danto's philosophy of art inevitably shows the reconciliation between Essentialism and Historicism,and between Scientism and Humanism,which is the knowledge of fusion of horizons,bearing some degree of truth,but never being absolute truth.