Arthur Danto: Philosopher of Pop Arthur Danto: Philosopher of Pop by Tiziana Andina Arthur Danto: Philosopher of Pop , by Tiziana Andina This book first published 2011 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2011 by Tiziana Andina All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-3149-2, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-3149-9 For my father TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................1 Guggenheim Museum, New York 2010 CHAPTER ONE..............................................................................................3 ANALYTICAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE SPACE BETWEEN ART AND LIFE 1. Analytical Philosophy According to Danto 2. The Pop Face of Analytical Philosophy 3. A Look at the Continental Tradition: Nietzsche as Philosopher CHAPTER TWO...........................................................................................21 THE GUIDELINES OF A SYSTEM:THE WAYS IN WHICH WE REPRESENT THE WORLD 1. Analytical Philosophy of History 2. Analytical Philosophy of Knowledge and Action 3. The Mind/Body Relationship 4. Fundamental Questions I: Our Representations of the World 5. Fundamental Questions II: Our Connections to the World CHAPTER THREE........................................................................................67 ANALYTICAL PHILOSOPHY TURNS POP AND BECOMES PHILOSOPHY OF ART 1. Danto’s Copernican Revolution 2. What Kind of Thing is a Work of Art? Questions of Ontology and Interpretation 3. The Importance of Hegel CHAPTER FOUR........................................................................................105 UNDERSTANDING THE BRILLO BOX:THE MORAL HALLMARK OF CRITICAL PLURALISM 1. The World (of art) seen From Manhattan 2. Andy Warhol, American Icon BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................................119 NOTES......................................................................................................125 INDEX.......................................................................................................127 INTRODUCTION GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, NEW YORK 2010 I returned to the Guggenheim this winter having visited last year in the springtime. To tell the truth, I returned primarily to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s building once again; its bare, dry beauty emerging between the old buildings of Fifth Avenue is something absolutely extraordinary. Equally enchanting in all seasons (even the most melancholy) is the view from inside the building of Central Park and the older skyscrapers. In the large circular space of the entrance (invaded by light, despite it being the middle of a chilling New York February) two artists, who from their appearance could have been two ordinary visitors, were putting on an unusual performance. The two moved about mutely, wearing jeans and charcoal grey t-shirts, miming an amorous encounter, an encounter of bodies and souls. They performed the pantomime and corporeal communication through infinite repetitions, telling the story of two bodies chasing one another, grazing then embracing one another; a story of souls that come together, touch and, in the end, look to one another in an effort to not lose one another—to not forget. They told a story made of slow movements—the same movement, infinitely—almost transposing the eternal return of the identical in gestures because, in the end, every love encounter reproduces the same essence, even through infinite particular variations. Having overcome the initial temptation to move along, I began to observe the repetition of those gestures, and to think about how the meaning of our deepest relations was incorporated in those movements. It was all there, wordlessly expressed by those bodies. And there was more: what most counted in the account that I was weaving with the work was the fact that, in that precise movement, I was able to connect those movements to the words that I chose; to my own words. I could fill what I was watching with meaning. Someone had started a work for me— showing me the essence of love that had been sung by Catullus and Ovid, Dante and Shakespeare, Baudelaire and Proust—and I was about to bring it to completion. 2 Introduction I had finally comprehended not only the meaning of the theory that you shall read in the following pages, but also what that theory speaks of: works of art. Time and sensibility are needed to reach the heart of things. Time is also needed to understand time itself because, occasionally, the world in which we live can be most distant if not focused upon appropriately. If a theory is able to fill the space that separates us from our understanding of the things of the world, then I believe it is a good theory. Grazie mille, Arthur. (cid:3)