哲学研究

The theory and even practice of “the end of art” is becoming the focus today. However, neither in Hegel’s aesthetic theory nor in Arthur Danto’s analytical philosophy, where the notion of “the end of art” does not amount to “the death of art”, does the conception of “the end of art history” mean to put an end to art history. To be exact, “the end of art” means the end of a certain narrative of the history of art. According to Danto, when “what is the nature of art” is presented, art history is bound to meet its end in a post-historical era. As the definition of art should be dealt with in a historical perspective, where the history comes to its end is likely to be where the last days of future art are numbered. In the philosophization of contemporary art, Kant’s theory of “presentation of the antinomy of taste” has been translated into a new antinomy: the thesis is that art is a concept while the antithesis is that art is not a concept. For contemporary art, there are three roads that lead to its end: first, art sees its end through Conceptual Art; second, art returns to the body through Performing Art and Somaesthetics; lastly, art incorporates with nature through Land Art.