PHIL 1361 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Woodworking, Arthur Danto, Excellent Art

• School: University of Houston
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 1361
• Professor: C.Mag Uidhir

Document Summary

Expressionist theories of art developed as a response to representational theories of art. Theorists wanted to address the issues present in these approaches and to distinguish art from other human activities and products. While representational theories were limited to works that aimed to imitate or replicate other things, it did serve as a good way to narrow things down. You couldn"t say that a chair or dining room table made by a carpenter is trying to imitate anything, so it can"t be art. It may be debatable under some interpretations or modifications of the formalist theory, but bell would say no. The way we differentiate art from craft is the difference in the creation process. Crafted products start with an end in mind and develops a way to bring about that end. A carpenter aims to make a table. Using woodworking techniques they select the wood, cuts it to the right dimensions, sands it, assembles it, and apply the finish.