‘What is a Work of Art?’

This is chapter from Vino, V., ed. (2022) Introduction to Philosophy: Aesthetic Theory and Practice. The chapter introduces readers to six ways that the philosophical aesthetics has tried to figure the specificity of works of art. This starts with the representational theories of art developed from Plato and Aristotle. Then, the formalist theories of Roger Fry and Clement Greenberg. This leads to a discussion of theories of expression from Tolstoy to R. G. Collingwood to Deleuze and Guattari. The next section discusses the aesthetic attitude analysed by Dickie and Kant others. Then, the institutional theory of art from Danto to Benjamin and 1970s institutional critique. Finally, poststructuralist and anti-essentialist theories which challenge all of the preceding work.