A Philosophical Analysis in Danto's " Art World" Theory

This article explains the importance of philosophical analysis in defining art in Danto's approach. Danto’s philosophy of art is at the confluence of the continental philosophical tradition and the analytical, while his approach to the philosophy of art could also call post-analytical. Danto has attempted to provide a full definition of art in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions. In this sense, he tries to overcome the neo-Wittgensteinian’s ban on defining art, as well as provide alternative view to the aesthetic theory of art. He has formulated the problem of the definition of art in terms of the experiment of indiscernible counterparts, which consists in presenting sets of perceptually indiscernible objects that belong to different ontological categories – some are artworks while others are mere objects or representations. Danto thinks that the development of art history was over in 1964, because Andy Warhol’s “Brillo Box” appeared. We can no longer make a distinction between this work of art and the real Brillo Box, which is just a commonplace object.