A Study Of Joseph Margolis's Theory About The Ontology Of Art

The thesis focuses on Joseph Margolis's theory about the ontology of art,and it aims at combing the main thread and basic position of his artistic concept and related philosophical thoughts.The theory of "token-of-a-type" and the theory of "physical/cultural realism" are the main parts of Margolis's theory about the ontology of art.He believes that each artwork is an"embodied particular",and it is also a token of a type which is an "abstract particular".In addition,he advocates that artworks are physically embodied and culturally emergent.In the explanation of cultural entities,Margolis mixes and reforms the theory about "intentionality�in phenomenology and analytical philosophy,and names the cultural characteristic of artworks as "Intentional properties".This thesis studies Margolis's art theory from three dimensions:psychological,historical and cultural nature of the "Intentional properties" of artworks.Finally,this thesis examines how Margolis interprets literary fictional discourse as a category of art.Margolis analyses literature,a special art closely related to language,from the perspectives of speech act theory,reference theory,and the relationship between fiction and reality.This thesis also devotes to make a critical reflection on Margolis's views and arguments.On the whole,Margolis has the following limitations:firstly,Margolis wants to prove that artworks conform to the "physical/cultural realism" by proving that all artworks are artifacts,but it is unreasonable for him to expand the definition of "artifacts" to prove that all works of art are artificial.Secondly,Margolis tries to oppose the use of speech act theory for analyzing literary fictional discourse by two reasons��"context" and "imagination".But he neglects that speech act theory can cover contextual elements.Besides,literary fictional discourse is not only an imaginative act.Thirdly,although Margolis acknowledges the intentionality of reference,he refers to the psychological level,such as the intention of the author.Finally,Margolis's view of "truth" is a traditional view of essence.He believes that "truth" exists inside literature,that is,literature reflects some kind of truth.He also regards"truth" as a kind of reality which is distinguished from "fiction",which is a traditional dualistic mode of thinking.Nevertheless,Margolis uses his art theory as a kind of expression of the philosophical stand of "robust relativism" in the field of art,which effectively copes with the challenges caused by the collapse of the concept and definition of art in the middle and late twentieth century.Margolis's theory about the ontology of art contributes to reaching a certain consensus in chaos,achieving relative stability in disorder and resisting the radical relative and utter nihilism caused by the avant-garde art movement.