A Companion to Arthur C. Danto

A Companion to Arthur C. Danto paints a detailed portrait of one the most significant figures in twentieth-century philosophy and art criticism, offering unparalleled coverage of all aspects of Danto’s writings, artworks, and thought. Edited by two long-time colleagues of Arthur Danto, this interdisciplinary resource presents more than 40 original essays from both prominent Danto scholars and leading practitioners from various sub-fields of philosophy.

The Companion illuminates Danto’s many contributions to the artworld, aesthetics, criticism, and philosophy of knowledge, action, science, history, and politics. The essays explore central concepts and intersecting themes in Danto’s writings while providing new interventions into the areas of philosophy in which Danto engaged. Topics include Danto’s mode of writing and art production, his critical engagement with artists and philosophers, conflicts in Danto’s views and in interpretations of his works, and much more.

An important addition to Danto studies, A Companion to Arthur C. Danto is essential reading for practitioners, scholars, and advanced students looking for a critical, provocative, and insightful treatment of Danto’s philosophy, art, and criticism.

Jonathan Gilmore is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center and Baruch College, New York, USA. A philosopher of art and an art critic, he is the recipient of NEH, Whiting, Mellon, and other national fellowships and awards. His most recent book, Apt Imaginings: Feelings for Fictions and Other Creatures of the Mind, was awarded the 2021 Outstanding Monograph Prize by the American Society for Aesthetics. 

Lydia Goehr is a Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, New York, USA. She is a recipient of Mellon, Getty, and Guggenheim Fellowships. Her works include The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works: An Essay in the Philosophy of Music, The Quest for Voice: Music, Politics, and the Limits of Philosophy, Elective Affinities: Musical Essays on the History of Aesthetic Theory, and Red Sea, Red Square, Red Thread. A Philosophical Detective Story. 

Preface viii
Jonathan Gilmore and Lydia Goehr

Notes on Contributorsx

Introduction: Five Pieces for Arthur Danto (1924–2013) In memoriam 1
Lydia Goehr, Daniel Herwitz, Fred Rush, Michael Kelly, and Jonathan Gilmore

1 Roquebrune, 1962 15
Ginger Danto

2 Boundaries Crossed 18
András Szántó

3 Writing with Style 26
Arturo Fontaine

4 Sartre, Transparency, and Style 33
Taylor Carman

5 Nietzsche and Historical Understanding 42
Robert Gooding-Williams

6 Pragmatism between Art and Life 51
Richard Shusterman

7 Danto on Dewey (and Dewey on Danto) 59
Casey Haskins

8 Thought Experiments: Art and Ethics 68
F. M. Kamm

9 A Normative Perspective on Basic Actions 76
Carol Rovane

10 Cognitive Science and Art Criticism 85
Mark Rollins

11 Perception 93
Sam Rose and Bence Nanay

12 The Anthropology of Art 103
David Davies

13 The Birth of Art 112
Whitney Davis

14 The End of Art 124
Georg W. Bertram

15 Representation, Truth, and Historical Reality 132
Frank Ankersmit

16 History and Retrospection 143
Noël Carroll

17 Action in the Shadow of Time 152
Adrian Haddock

18 The Sixties 162
Espen Hammer

19 Criticism and the Pale of History 170
Gregg M. Horowitz

20 Postmodernism and Its Discontents 180
David Carrier

21 Shakespeare and the Repetition of the Commonplace 190
Rachel Eisendrath

22 Engaging Henry James: The Metaphorical Perspective 199
Garry L. Hagberg

23 Literature, Philosophy, Persona, Politics 207
Richard Eldridge

24 Moving Pictures 216
Fred Rush

25 Photography and Danto’s Craft of the Mind 223
Scott Walden

26 Transfiguration/Transubstantiation 233
Sixto J. Castro

27 Embodiment and Medium 240
Tiziana Andina

28 The Style Matrix 248
Sondra Bacharach

29 Disenfranchisement 256
Jane Forsey

30 Definition 263
Karlheinz Lüdeking

31 Danto and Dickie: Artworld and Institution 273
Michalle Gal

32 Danto and Wittgenstein: History and Essence 281
Sonia Sedivy

33 Censorship and Subsidy 292
Brian Soucek

34 Amnesty International and Human Rights 301
Emma Stone Mackinnon

35 Random Noise, Radical Silence 309
Marlies De Munck

36 Mad Men and Pop Art 317
Sue Spaid

37 Vija Celmins: Nature at Art’s End 326
Sandra Shapshay

38 The Meaning of Ugliness, The Authority of Beauty 336
J. M. Bernstein

39 Feminist Criticism: On Disturbatory Art and Beauty 345
Peg Brand Weiser

40 Beauty and Politics 355
Matilde Carrasco Barranco

41 Public Art: Monuments, Memorials, and Earthworks 363
Gary Shapiro

42 On Architecture 373
Remei Capdevila-Werning

43 Aliveness and Aboutness: Yvonne Rainer’s Dance Indiscernibles 381
Kyle Bukhari

44 Arthur and Andy 389
Daniel Herwitz

45 Letter to Posterity 397
Arthur C. Danto

Index 404

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