In the following essay, Danto provides us with a (widely referenced) postmodernist account of the nature and value of conceptual art.
1. Read: Danto, "The Artworld" (we will discuss only sections I-III):
Questions for discussion:
1. What is the "imitation theory" and what is the significance of his realist alternative (RT)?
2. What explains Testadura's limited understanding of art?
3. What is the "is" of artistic identification? (What other senses of "is" are there?)
4. How does Danto employ "sea meets sky" in defense of conceptual art?
5. What allows us to distinguish Warhol's Brillo Box from any other box of Brillo pads? (This, for short, is the "problem of perceptually indistinguishable counterparts" or PIC.)
A critique of Danto:
