Art and Abstract Objects

319 Pages·2013·1.06 MB·English

by  Christy Mag Uidhir

Art and Abstract Objects
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Art and Abstract
Objects
EDITED BY
Christy Mag Uidhir
1
3
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Contents
List of Contributors vii
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction: Art, Metaphysics, and the Paradox of Standards 1
Christy Mag Uidhir
I. General Ontological Issues
1. Must Ontological Pragmatism be Self-Defeating? 29
Guy Rohrbaugh
2. Indication, Abstraction, and Individuation 49
Jerrold Levinson
3. Destroying Artworks 62
Marcus Rossberg
II. Informative Comparisons
4. Art, Open-Endedness, and Indefinite Extensibility 87
Roy T. Cook
5. Historical Individuals Like Anas platyrhynchos and ‘Classical Gas’ 108
P.D. Magnus
6. Repeatable Artwork Sentences and Generics 125
Shieva Kleinschmidt and Jacob Ross
III. Arguments Against and Alternatives To
7. Against Repeatable Artworks 161
Allan Hazlett
8. How to be a Nominalist and a Fictional Realist 179
Ross P. Cameron
vi CONTENTS
9. Platonism vs. Nominalism in Contemporary Musical Ontology 197
Andrew Kania
IV. Abstracta Acrossthe Arts
10. Reflections on the Metaphysics of Sculpture 223
Hud Hudson
11. Installation Art and Performance: A Shared Ontology 242
Sherri Irvin
12. What Type of ‘Type’ is a Film? 263
David Davies
13. Musical Works: A Mash-Up 284
Joseph G. Moore
Index 307
List of Contributors
ROSSP.CAMERON,LeedsUniversity
ROYT.COOK,UniversityofMinnesota,TwinCities
DAVIDDAVIES,McGillUniversity
ALLANHAZLETT,UniversityofEdinburgh
HUDHUDSON,WesternWashingtonUniversity
SHERRIIRVIN,UniversityofOklahoma
ANDREWKANIA,TrinityUniversity
SHIEVAKLEINSCHMIDT,UniversityofSouthernCalifornia
JERROLDLEVINSON,UniversityofMaryland,CollegePark
P.D.MAGNUS,UniversityatAlbany,StateUniversityofNewYork
CHRISTYMAGUIDHIR,UniversityofHouston
JOSEPHG.MOORE,AmherstCollege
GUYROHRBAUGH,AuburnUniversity
JACOBROSS,UniversityofSouthernCalifornia
MARCUSROSSBERG,UniversityofConnecticut,Storrs
Acknowledgements
The idea for this volume grew out of a panel on the titular subject matter
puttogetherbymyself, RoyT.CookandMarcusRossbergandpresented
tothe2009AnnualMeetingoftheAmericanSocietyforAestheticsheldin
Denver,Colorado.Icountmyselfstupendouslyluckytohavebeenableto
amass such a Murderers’ Row of frighteningly talented philosophers to
contribute to this volume; I am grateful to them all for their patience in
working with a first-time editor. I’d also like to extend special thanks to
Wylie Breckenridge for lending a critical eye, to L.A. Paul and Amie
Thomasson for their words of encouragement and support, to Donald
Baechler for so generously providing the fantastic cover image, and to
Peter Momtchiloff for his tireless editorial assistance.
Introduction: Art, Metaphysics,
and the Paradox of Standards
CHRISTY MAG UIDHIR*
I think it safe to say that philosophical aesthetics has had a less than stellar
record of its principal work being actively and substantively informed by
work in philosophical areas outside itself.1 Although I’m not entirely sure
what might fully explain the fact that aesthetics has for so long cultivated
a disturbingly insular character (or at least why it has achieved such a
reputation), I am quite certain that this protracted insularity has not only
effectively hobbled progress and productivity within philosophy of art
but also ostensibly poisoned any substantive and informative relationships
aesthetics might cultivate with outside areas (further fueling moves toward
insularity).
Of course, while I may share—or at least regard as neither hasty
nor terribly uncharitable—the view that aesthetics has to some extent
heretofore been a comparatively dim, unproductive, and deleteriously
insular area of philosophical enquiry, this should by no means suggest that
I also share the sadly not altogether uncommon outside sentiment that
* IwouldliketothankP.D.MagnusandL.A.Paulforhelpfulcommentsonearlierdrafts.
1 Afterall,oneneedn’tlooktoohardtofindastandardpositionwithinphilosophicalaestheticsthat
runsdirectlycountertotherelevantstandard(ifnotreceived)positionsinsomeotherfield(e.g.dominant
theories of art interpretation sharply diverging from the dominant theories of interpretation within
philosophyoflanguage,well-establishedconceptualaccountsofartandtheaestheticbeingpredicated
uponhighlycontroversialif notlargelydiscreditedtheoriesofconceptswithinphilosophyof mind,
object-kinds considered standard for art ontology being conspicuously absent from and utter alien-
looking within contemporary metaphysics). By contrast, consider the comparative ease in showing
theprincipalworkwithinmeta-ethicsroutinelyandproductivelytoengagewith,andbeinformedby,
areaswelloutsideitself(e.g.metaphysics,epistemology,philosophyofmindandlanguage,philosophy
ofscience).