Arthur Danto

Arthur Coleman Danto was a significant American philosopher and art critic.

He spent much of his career as a professor at Columbia University. Danto was also a longtime art critic for the magazine *The Nation*. His work touched many different areas of thought. These included philosophical aesthetics, the philosophy of history, and the philosophy of action. He explored complex topics like theories of representation and philosophical psychology. He also studied the ideas of famous thinkers like Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Hegel.

Danto is perhaps most famous for his work on the definition of art. He wanted to understand why certain objects are seen as art while others are not. He developed what is known as an "institutional definition of art." This theory suggests that art is defined by what art schools, museums, and artists consider to be art. This approach views art as a sociological category rather than just a matter of beauty. Danto argued that art is not defined by its formal or expressive properties alone. Instead, he believed a work of art is a "meaning given embodiment."

In his 1964 essay "The Artworld," Danto introduced a key concept. He used the term "artworld" to describe a specific cultural context. He meant an "atmosphere of art theory" that surrounds creative works. This idea suggests that art requires a background of knowledge to be understood. Some scholars, like George Dickie, were influenced by Danto's work. Dickie developed his own institutional theory based on these ideas. He described an artwork as an object that has been given the status of a candidate for appreciation by a social institution.

Later in his life, Danto tried to simplify his definition. Around 2005, he focused on two main principles for art. First, art must have content or meaning. Second, the art must embody that meaning in an appropriate way. Other scholars have provided different ways to look at his definition. One view suggests a work is art if it has a subject and a style. This style should project an attitude or a point of view. It should also use a type of metaphorical language that asks the audience to participate. Finally, the work must require an art historical context to be fully interpreted.

Danto's life began in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on January 1, 1924.

He grew up in Detroit and was raised in a Reform Jewish home. After serving two years in the Army, he studied art and history at Wayne University. In 1947, he actually began making Expressionist prints. He later moved to Paris in 1949 on a Fulbright scholarship. There, he studied under Jean Wahl. He returned to teach at Columbia University in 1951. He eventually became the Johnsonian Professor Emeritus of Philosophy upon his retirement in 1992.

Danto also had unique views on the history of art. He used a version of Hegel's ideas to describe how art changes over time. He suggested that the history of Western art had reached a specific end. He did not mean that people stopped making art. Instead, he meant that art had moved past the need to follow strict rules. He described a progression from an era of imitation to an era of ideology. Finally, he believed we entered a "post-historical era." In this era, there are no stylistic or philosophical constraints on what art can be.

Throughout his career, Danto received many honors. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1980. He also received two fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation. In 1990, he won the National Book Critics Circle Prize for his book *Encounters and Reflections*. He was a member of the Humanist Manifesto. Danto wrote many influential books, including *The Transfiguration of the Commonplace* and *Beyond the Brillo Box*. He passed away in Manhattan, New York, on October 25, 2013, at the age of 89.