Arthur Danto and the fallacies of Art Theory

Abstract

This paper makes a critical overview of some of the central issues addressed by the philosopher and art critic Arthur Danto throughout his career, with a special emphasis on his famous essay The Art World, presented here in conjunction with this paper, and analyzes the reasons why the main theoretical contribution of Danto, its Institutional Theory of Art, is a flawed representation of the problems inherent to the art world. It is divided in two parts: the first one is centered on the idea of imitation as essence of art, and the concept of «world of art», and the second one in the role of theory as a final explanation of art, according to Danto.