Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: What is the folk concept of art? Does it track any of the major definitions of art philosophers have proposed? In two preregistered experiments (N = 888) focusing on two types of artworks (paintings and musical works), we manipulate three potential features of artworks: intentional creation, the possession of aesthetic value, and institutional recognition. This allows us to investigate whether the folk concept of art fits an essentialist definition drawing on one or more of the manipulated factors or whether it might be a disjunctive or cluster concept. The results suggest that none of the three manipulated properties alone suffices for an object to be considered art. The folk concept of art might thus well be a cluster concept instead of an essentialist concept.
Source: Synthese
Authors: Elzė Sigutė Mikalonytė, Markus Kneer
Institutions: University of Cambridge, University of Graz
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,990
Funder: Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
OpenAlex ID: W4405618059