2026-09-26T23:01:27Zhttps://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/server/oai/request

oai:researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz:10289/162752023-12-19T00:25:06Zcom_10289_2222col_10289_2223

A Study of the Adequacy of Post Functional Definitions of Art Shams, Mehdi Kingsbury, Justine van Zyl, Liezl In this thesis, I investigate the adequacy of post-functional definitions of art, including institutional, historical, disjunctive and buck-passing definitions. I evaluate these definitions with respect to their extensional adequacy, intentional adequacy, and informativeness. Philosophers of art have not always made a clear distinction between definitions of art and theories of art. I argue that this distinction is important. A definition of art must provide the means to distinguish artworks from non-artworks. In contrast, a theory of art need not do this, but it should be informative about such matters as the production or reception of artworks. To clarify what a definition is, I explain the concept of essence and from there, investigate various accounts of essentialism and anti-essentialism about art. I conclude that none of the definitions of art so far proposed are adequate. However, I argue that we do not in fact need a definition of art. Theories of art are potentially of considerably more use than definitions. The University of Waikato 2023 Thesis en https://hdl.handle.net/10289/16275 https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/a676f6e8-3649-4fa0-ab8f-c540d4015a7c/download 45de4ef48ea66df2aa9d58a98bac9bec https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/4de45eab-6108-4ace-9468-aeef83ecb35f/download e14202ab27e47ddb00d33097327ba050 https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/7e50dc82-8593-4acf-a800-f018d8b37b28/download 202c5192b1bdda4b8bc4f63865ef36f5 All items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. Definition of art Essence Art theory Extensional adequacy Intensional adequacy Disjunctive definitions of art