I argue for the Expanded Cluster Account of art (ECA) by first inquiring as to whether “art” is best described by a cluster account and where ECA fits into the current landscape of theories of concepts. Second, I explicate the relevant aspects of Boyd’s theory of natural kinds and argue that his concepts of “disciplinary matrices” and “homeostatic property clusters” (roughly analogous to Gaut’s criterial properties for characterizing art, particularized for each individual kind) have relevant roles in a proper cluster account of art, thus explicating and expanding Gaut’s account in the process. Third, I defend the thesis that Boyd’s concept of “disciplinary matrix,” when applied to “art,” is fulfilled by George Dickie’s notion of “the Artworld.” Lastly, I consider objections to ECA and positively explain its heuristic and explanatory efficacy above and beyond other contemporary “anti-definitional” accounts.

George Dickie’s Institutional Theory of Art satisfies necessary and sufficient conditions for definition, but by leaving evaluation open cannot address artistic capacities to outstrip the usefulness of the theory for appreciating the concept of art comprehensively or meaningfully. Artworks that are known to members of the central and peripheral artworld seep into the general purview of the population at large as known “great works” of art. Upon examination of works that garner significant cultural influence, works broadly appreciated as great works, we find that their resistance to Dickie’s concept of “the artworld” and its associated behaviors is that which makes them conspicuously significant.

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This doctoral study is concerned with identifying the determinants of the institutionalisation of art (IoA) in general and institutionalisation of contemporary art (IoCA) in particular. It focuses on the influence of the state and the private sector on economics and politics of arts as artworld in Turkey. The proposed relational framework is based on the current controversial problematisation of social theory in terms of various understandings of modernity and post-modernity. Here, modern art is taken to be based on an orthodox (classical) modernity understanding. In contrast, contemporary art (CA) is regarded as either a rejection of modern art from a post-modernity perspective or an intensive criticism of it from inside modernity. Both positions direct their criticisms to the basic assumptions, methodological tools, epistemological sources and ontological basis of the classical understanding of modernity. Within this scope, this study formulates and operationalises the research problem in terms of relational sociology and uses grounded-theory to establish the significant interactive relations that define IoA. The unit of analysis is the interactive relations of individuals as artists. The boundaries of the study are primarily limited to national level. The research questions are, in general, framed with qualitative research techniques and specifically substantiated with data sources primarily obtained from a self-employed semi-structured survey method complemented by observations and an extensive review of the relevant literature as documentary-historical data. The analysis of the data and the interpretations of the findings are undertaken within the scope of relational sociology and using the tools of grounded-theory methodology. The empirical data collected from a sample of artists actively involved as producers of works of arts and/or academicians, advisors and art critics from Turkey. Within this conceptual framework, the roles of the state and the private sector are questioned in terms of the economics and politics of arts, including their cultural couplings. The domain of social relations remaining outside the private sector, specifically the art public and the groups, collectives and initiatives of arts are assessed as the civil domain of arts. Knowledge of the arts and its formal (institutional) and informal relations provide an essential source and play a central role in this study. Within this framework, the art market is considered as an emerging hegemonic construct in the economics and politics of arts. Furthermore, artists and artworks are considered as the primary constituting components of the interactive relations of IoA. The findings of this thesis have implications for increasing the knowledge about and practices of IoA and contribute to the development of a framework of research questions that explains the interactive relations of the IoA in Turkey and offers an insight into a growing body of literature on art and includes recommendations for the directions of future research. The proposed relational framework is based on the current controversial problematisation of social theory in terms of modernity and post-modernity understandings. Here, modern art is considered to be based on orthodox (classical) modernity understanding. In contrast, contemporary art (CA) is regarded as either a rejection of modern art from post-modernity perspective or an intensive criticism of it from inside modernity. Both positions direct their criticisms to the basic assumptions, methodological tools, epistemological sources and ontological basis of classical understanding of modernity. Within this scope, this study formulates and operationalises its research problem in terms of relational sociology and uses grounded-theory to establish the significant interactive relations defining IoA. The unit of analysis is the interactive relations of individuals as artists. The boundaries of the study primarily remained at national level. The research questions are framed in general with qualitative research techniques and substantiated specifically with data sources primarily obtained by self-employed semi-structured survey method in addition to observations and extensive review of the relevant literature as documentary-historical data. The analysis of the data and the interpretations of the findings made within the scope of relational sociology and with the tools of grounded-theory methodology. The empirical data collected from a sample of artists actively involved as producers of works of arts and/or academicians, advisors and critics of arts from Turkey. Within this conceptual framework, the role of the state and the private sector is questioned in terms of economics and politics of art, including their cultural couplings. The domain of social relations remaining outside of the private sector, specifically the art public and the groups, collectives and initiatives of arts are inquired as the civil domain of arts. Knowledge of arts and its formal (institutional) and informal relations provide an unavoidable source and play a central role in this study. Within this framework, art market is considered as an emerging hegemonic construct in the economics and politics of arts. Furthermore, artists and artworks were taken as primary constituting components of the interactive relations of IoA. The findings have implications for knowledge and practices of IoA and contribute in the developing a framework of research questions that explains the interactive relations of the IoA in Turkey and adds an insight to a growing body of literature on art including recommendation for future research directions.

This essay is interlaced with the exhibition Alien Beauty by Fredrik Odénius, and is to be seen as a reflection of and upon the presented works and their becoming. By focusing on the role of interpretation in various stages of the creation process the essay tries to distinguish Odénius sculptural practice as a hermeneutical activity.  By tracing one of the main strands of thought in hermeneutics, from exegesis, via Heidegger to Gadamer, interpretations treated as a means of existence, an ontological activity in its own right.  One can understand art as an act of interpretation by the way of gestaltung, to interpret a thing through matter. Another way to define art is through its institutions and the concept of the artworld. By accessing art through both these definitions simultaneously, a new idea of how a work of art operates is revealed, both as an autonomic being and as a man-made artefact. By giving primacy to the open-ended structure of creation, with curiosity and association as driving forces, it is argued for that the act of gestaltung draws a line between the inside and outside that allows a dialogue between material and creator. Through this process the material is given a possibility to make itself heard, and as the artist steps back, the bond between motif and work remains and establishes a continuity outside the human realm.

This master thesis "Perspectives of an Art Institution" focuses on the George Dickie's institutional theory of art (thereafter IT). This theory defines "work of art" as a result of the position of an artefact in the institutional framework of the artworld. The author of the thesis pays attention to the historical development of the IT- firstly published in 1969 in the article "Defining Art" and radically revisited in the book The Art Circle in 1984- as well as to the critical discussion based on Dickie's theory. In the first chapter she compares both the earlier and the later version of the theory; in following chapters she concerns with objections formulated against Dickie's IT. IT seems to be problematic in several aspects: the term "institution" is considered to be ambiguous; Dickie fails to give a full description of roles and rules which determine the operations of the artworld; the notion of appreciation seems to be contradictory with Dickie's opinions presented earlier; circularity; and Dickie's unsatisfactory attention to the historical dimension of the artworld. All of these objections are compared with Dickie's theory to prove their legitimacy or to refuse them as illegitimate. Not only aims the thesis to sum up the critical discussion but it aims to answer the question if the theory...

El objeto de esta investigación es analizar la definición del arte propuesta por Arthur Danto y evaluar su validez. Es notable que la propuesta de Danto dependa estrechamente de la aceptación del experimento de los indiscernibles perceptivos. Por ello he analizado la concepción de la percepción implícita en la formulación del experimento y he tratado de caracterizar la validez del experimento teniendo en cuenta las posibles concepciones que son compatibles con el. Asimismo he analizado la noción de "mundo del arte" propuesta por Danto como condición necesaria para el arte y, finalmente, he abordado su definición del arte -que consta de dos condiciones: "ser sobre algo" y "encarnar un significado". La definición resulta insuficiente pues no es obvio que todas las obras sean sobre algo en el mismo sentido ni tampoco que todas "encarnen un significado". / The subject matter of this dissertation is Arthur Danto's art's definition, whose validity I have tried to assess. It is noticeable that Danto's proposal strongly depends upon the acceptance of the experiment of perceptual indiscernible objects that nevertheless have a different ontological status. For this reason, I have analyzed the perceptual view implied by the formulation of the experiment and I have also tried to characterize other compatibles perceptual views that are compatible with the experiment in order to grant its validity. I have analyzed the notion of "artworld" which was put forward by Danto as a necessary condition for art and, finally, I have assessed his art's definition in terms of "aboutness" and "embodiment". This definition is not sufficient to cover all the objects we usually classify as art for it is not at all obvious that every object satisfy them.