180167 KU Arthur C. Danto (2025W)

Arthur Coleman Danto (1924-2013) is one of the most important representatives of an analytical philosophy of art. In his main work of art philosophy, THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE COMMONPLACE (1981), as well as in his essay collections THE PHILOSOPHICAL DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF ART (1986) and BEYOND THE BRILLO BOX (1992), Danto attempts to analyze the representational character of works of art and to establish a post-aesthetic philosophy of art. His art criticism, which has appeared in the weekly magazine THE NATION since 1984, has been published together with art-philosophical supplements in three anthologies: THE STATE OF THE ART (1987), ENCOUNTERS & REFLECTIONS: ART IN THE HISTORICAL PRESENT (1990) and EMBODIED MEANINGS (1994).
In this seminar we will read and discuss both his main work, THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE COMMONPLACE, and a number of his essays, together with critical secondary literature.
Students are confronted with central problems of 20th century philosophical aesthetics and learn to develop independent questions and positions on these. The joint preparation for writing a concrete research article is one of the learning objectives of this seminar. Regular engagement with the primary texts using a learning journal kept by all participants provides the basis for habitual writing and the starting point for our weekly discussions.

Method: Preparatory reading of selected passages from Danto’s philosophical writings and secondary literature, weekly discussions in the lecture hall.