Blackwell Reference Online

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A esthetics A theory of art developed by the American philosopher George Dickie, based on Danto 's notion of an artworld . The theory claims that an artwork is an artifact that possesses the status of a candidate for appreciation. This status is conferred by a suitable representative of a formal social institution, that is, the artworld. Accordingly, any artifact can be a work of art so long as it is admitted by the artworld. In other words, art is the consequence of social agreement rather than having intrinsic aesthetic features. In a later version, Dickie claims that a work of art is an artifact created for presentation to a group of persons (the artworld public) who are prepared to some extent to understand artworks. In contrast to the imitation theory , which emphasizes the relation between art and its subject matter, and the expression theory , which stresses the relation of an artwork to its creator, the institutional theory focuses on the established practice of art and its appreciation. The theory has the advantage of highlighting the social context through which art is generated and provided with properties that are not directly exhibited to the senses. Critics of the theory point out that its definition of art is circular, for it explains art in terms of an artworld and explains the artworld in terms of the artifacts it recognizes as art. In addition, critics claim ... log in or subscribe to read full text