Some Attempts to Define “Art”
1. Art = The Beautiful
Art iff Beautiful
If Art then Beautiful
If Beautiful then Art
2. Art = The Aesthetic (what prompts aesthetic response)
(Art = “Purposiveness without a purpose”, free play of imagination)
Art iff Aesthetic
If Art then Aesthetic
If Aesthetic then Art
3. What is the aesthetic, anyway?
Stolnitz: Disinterested contemplative pleasure
· Not practical or utilitarian
· Does not have to do with subject matter
Eaton: What is intrinsically interesting in a work
· Can be an aspect of something that is practical
· Can involve subject matter