Defining Art and Aesthetic Obligations

In this chapter, I’m going to show how definitions of art can help us understand how to respond to objects like Fountain and Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.): ordinary objects which have been presented to us as special. By presenting them as special, the artists destabilize our sense of how to interact with ordinary objects. They also destabilize our sense of how to interact with special or art objects. Definitions of art can also help us understand what sorts different kinds of special objects into art (Swan Lake) and non-art (a Brazilian futebol match). Definitions of art help us determine our aesthetic obligations with respect to art objects. That is why definitions matter: they show us how we ought to respond to the world around us and engage other people in it. This chapter looks primarily at functional, institutional, and deflationary theories of art. It also shows how debates over aesthetic obligations help us understand what art is.