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Brigham, Stephen. "Limitations of reason and liberation of absurdity reason and absurdity as means of personal and social change: case study: psychotherapy /." Access electronically, 2005. http://www.library.uow.edu.au/adt-NWU/public/adt-NWU20060320.161119/index.html.
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Hodges, Steven. "The digital absurd." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/33950.
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I believe that the concept of the absurd, as described in philosophy and reflected in works of drama and literature, provides an unusual and helpful perspective from which to view the emerging field of digital media. In my opinion, absurd principles can help us understand the mixed feelings we may have when engaging with digital media: joy and frustration, play and despair, significance and nonsense.
I intend to explore the concept of the absurd through a handful of authors and works, including the philosophy of Camus and the literature and drama of Pinter, Beckett, Roussel, and the Oulipo. I will use these works to analyze characteristics of absurdist works and then extend this analysis to characteristics and theory of digital media. I believe an absurdist analysis may bring a new vantage point to the study of digital media, from which we can see not only the advantages and liberation it offers but also the ever-present threat of nonsense it entails.
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Salov, Amanda. "An absurd beauty." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/4982.
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Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007.<br>The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on April 10, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.
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Paul, Mumme. "The Absurd beyond Modernism." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/16599.
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While the absurd is usually associated with the modern subject, it is the purpose of this project to show how it is still relevant today. The concepts of end times, ecological disaster, and post-democracy are pressing concerns of the new millennium that emphasise the futility of being and a lack of political agency. Absurdity describes a similar condition, the feeling of purposelessness that results from the observation that life has no inherent meaning. A fundamentally modern condition of religious dispossession, this feeling is predominantly frustration, since it is impossible to determine the meaning of life through reason. In these cases, crisis seems unavoidable, insurmountable, and permanent, and these attitudes can be observed in works of art since modernism. The thesis aims to define the absurd by the special examination of works closely associated with the concept, which will allow the identification of a specific literary and artistic tradition originating in the nineteenth century and continuing to the present. This is achieved through the rigorous examination of works by Søren Kierkegaard, Albert Camus, Michel Houellebecq, and Bruce Nauman. Despite the fact that works reflecting the absurd respond to distinct historical conditions, they all express frustration at the limitations of human agency, and the incomprehensibility of life.
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Van, der Colff Margaretha Aletta Adams Douglas. "Douglas Adams : analysing the absurd." Pretoria : [s.n.], 2004. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-08212008-183816.
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Bowker, Matthew Hamilton. "Albert Camus and the political philosophy of the absurd." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/8255.
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Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2008.<br>Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Government and Politics. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.
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Hober, Christine. "Das Absurde : Studien zu einem Grenzbegriff menschlichen Handelns /." Münster : Lit, 2001. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb38883010j.
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Grayson, Erik. "Towards a postmodern absurd : the fiction of Joseph Heller." Thesis, McGill University, 2003. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=19693.
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This thesis examines the entirety of Joseph Heller's career as a novelist and explores the various existential themes uniting a seemingly diverse body of work. Considering Heller's relationship to the philosophy of Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, "Towards a Postmodern Absurd: The Fiction of Joseph Heller" suggests that the novelist promotes the same existentially authentic lifestyle of revolt originally articulated by the French existentialists. Refuting the critical assessment of Heller's fiction as formless, this thesis argues that Heller deliberately structures his fiction around the concept of dejd vu in order to buttress the author's existential concerns with the absurdity of human existence. Finally, in response to the recent debates over Joseph Heller's place in the postmodern American canon, the thesis identifies the author's use of such postmodern concepts as pastiche and paranoia as a further reinforcement of the relevance of an absurdist worldview in contemporary America.
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Dungan, Drew W. "South Park and absurd culture war ideologies the art of stealthy conservatism /." To access this resource online via ProQuest Dissertations and Theses @ UTEP, 2009. http://0-proquest.umi.com.lib.utep.edu/login?COPT=REJTPTU0YmImSU5UPTAmVkVSPTI=&clientId=2515.
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Epling, Leslie Rose. "Costume Designing for Theatre of the Absurd - Come and Go, Footfalls, and The Dumb Waiter." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2010. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/6.
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In October of 2010, ETSU staged three one-act plays in the Theatre of the Absurd genre--Come and Go and Footfalls by Samuel Beckett and The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter. This thesis gives a brief overview of Theatre of the Absurd and how Beckett and Pinter helped to shape and define the genre. It also gives an analysis of these three plays from the perspective of the costume designer.
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Lafferty, Michael Gerald. "Arthur Danto's philosophy of art." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2006. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/42211/.
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The thesis is a critical examination of Danto's philosophy of art. It begins with his article 'The Artworld' where he proposes a special is of artistic identification to distinguish artworks. Danto's idea of the artworld is discussed, a historical and contextual theory of art, which arose from his attempt to explain the difference between Warhol's Brillo Boxes sculpture and an indiscernible stack of everyday Brillo boxes. It is argued that Danto unsuccessfully attempts to shore up his artworld concept with the special is. The technique of comparing indiscernible counterparts, from Danto's book The Transfiguration of the Commonplace, is examined. It is argued that the technique is philosophically redundant, but it is a redundant premise which has been added to a valid inference (Danto's historical and contextual view of art: his artworld theory) therefore, this does not make the original inference invalid. Danto's treatment of metaphor, expression, and style is shown to result in four claims. First, artworks embody rhetorical ellipsis. Second, artworks share features of metaphor: they are intensional (with an s) in structure and cannot be paraphrased. Third, a work of art expresses what it is a metaphor for by the way it depicts its subject. Fourth, artworks embody style. The conclusion, has two parts. The first part gives a summary of the criticism of Danto's theory of art: (1) there are logical inconsistencies in his concept of the is of artistic identification and in his use of indiscernible counterparts, (2) his theory suffers by being over-inclusive and (3) he uses circular arguments. The second part is based on a response to the criticism: it provides a definition of art. This has three elements. First, an argument is proposed for a spectrum of artistic presence in which all human activity and artefacts can be placed. Second, there is an acceptance of Danto's view of art (or artistic presence) being both intentional (with a t) and intensional (with an s); however, by applying these concepts to a spectrum, the problem of over-inclusiveness is avoided. Finally, it is argued there can he no wholly non-circular account of art.
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Gustafsson, Daniel. "A philosophy of Christian art." Thesis, University of York, 2014. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/8052/.
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This thesis offers an original and comprehensive philosophical approach to the understanding of Christian art. It draws on a range of sources, from analytic and theological aesthetics, philosophy and theology, to interpret and articulate a vision of the aims and prerogatives of Christian art. Works by William Blake, David Jones, and R. S. Thomas are among those receiving close attention; works which yield a picture of art and creative labour as deeply implicated in the central mysteries and practices of the Christian faith. In five chapters, the thesis addresses the nature and the implications of the Form, the Beauty, the Good, the Ontology, and the Love of Christian art. It is the aim of Christian art to manifest God under the particular forms and beauty of the artwork. These forms are realised and discerned in the context of a Christian life. The artwork’s beauty invites a response of delight, gratitude, and the reorientation of our desires and dispositions towards the infinite beauty of God. As a sacramental object, the Christian artwork is positioned in a Christian ontological narrative, in which we humans are entrusted with transformative stewardship of the world. Outside this conceptual and ontological context, the work will not be experienced as what it is. Ultimately, the Christian artwork begs to be perceived and engaged with – as indeed it is created – as an object of love. Thus the artwork finds its place within an understanding of Christian faith as the striving for a personal union with God. Above all, Christian art is made, received and loved as part of our calling to grow in the divine likeness. In presenting this vision, the thesis breaks new ground, and not only makes significant contributions to analytic and theological aesthetics, but also offers material with implications for philosophy and theology more widely.
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Thompson, Seth Aaron. "Art Unfettered: Bergson and a Fluid Conception of Art." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2018. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248388/.
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This dissertation applies philosopher Henri Bergson's methodology and his ideas of duration and creativity to the definitional problem of art, particularly as formulated within analytic aesthetics. In mid-20th century, analytic aesthetics rejected essentialist definitions of art, but within a decade, two predominant definitions of art emerged as answers to the anti-essentialism of the decade prior: functionalism and proceduralism. These two definitions define art, respectively, in terms of the purpose that art serves and in terms of the conventions in place that confer the status of art onto artifacts. Despite other important definitions (including historical and intentionalist definitions), much of the literature in the analytic field of aesthetics center on the functional/procedural dichotomy, and this dichotomy is an exclusive one insofar as the two definitions appear incompatible with each other when it comes to art. I use Bergson's methodology to demonstrate that the tension between functionalism and proceduralism is an artificial one. In turn, abandoning the strict dichotomy between these two definitions of art opens the way for a more fluid conception of art. Using Bergson's application of duration and creativity to problems of laughter and morality, I draw parallels to what a Bergsonian characterization would entail.
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Rethore, Florent Philippe. "The evolution of the role of humanism in the combat against the absurd, from futility to essential: 1938-1945." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1555177391619455.
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Stumbrytė, Eglė. "Minios fenomenas mene.Kūrybinis darbas: „KREPŠINIO SIRGALIŲ PORTRETAI“." Bachelor's thesis, Lithuanian Academic Libraries Network (LABT), 2012. http://vddb.laba.lt/obj/LT-eLABa-0001:E.02~2012~D_20120702_104846-18714.
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Kintant laikams, minios elgesio, mąstymo bruožai iš esmės lieka nepakitę. Masė vis dar pasiduoda neracionaliems sprendimams, idėjoms, yra valdoma įvairiausių emocijų. Kritiškas individo protas yra nugalimas absurdiško fanatizmo išraiškų. Šiandieninėje Lietuvos kultūroje, vienas iš ryškiausių minią užliejančios karštligės atitikmenų - tai krepšinio sirgaliai, skanduojantys patriotinius šūkius, stabais verčiantys žaidėjus. Šiuolaikiniame mene taip pat nelieka nepastebėta ši tema, analizuojamas krepšinio santykis su visuomene, jo reikšmės kaita skirtingais laikmečiais. Darbo objektas. Trijų tapybos darbų ciklas – sirgalių portretai. Gilinimasis į darbo temą padėjo pažinti šį masininį reiškinį, minios bruožus ir apskritai sąmoningiau įvertinti, koks yra asmeninis santykis su masine karštlige.<br>As times change, the behaviour of mass and way of thinking remain the same. Mass is still relying on irrational solutions, ideas and is controlled by various emotions. Absurd fanatic manifestations overcome the critical mind of an individual. Nowadays, in the Lithuanian culture, one of the most prominent display of the mass fever can be recognised in basketball fans that cheer, shout patriotic slogans and tend to turn basketball players into idols. In contemporary art this theme is not overlooked – the relation between basketball and the society is constantly being analysed, as well as the change of its meaning in different periods of time. The object of work. The cycle of three painting works – portraits of fans. The theme of the work focuses on this mass phenomenon, analyses the main features of the mass and helps to evaluate own goals more consciously.
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Peters, Julia Helene. "Art and philosophy in Hegel's system." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2009. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/18022/.
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My thesis addresses a puzzle concerning Hegel's notion of the value of beauty. On the one hand, the contemplation of beauty, in particular artistic beauty, has the same status for Hegel as philosophical knowledge, since through both, we come to grasp the absolute truth: the unity of spirit and nature, or of the human individual and the world it lives in. On the other hand, Hegel thinks that the aesthetic unity of spirit and nature is in some way deficient, when compared to the unity we come to grasp through philosophical knowledge. Thus Hegel claims that philosophy and art have the same content, while philosophy is higher than art. I suggest that this puzzle can be dissolved if we consider that beautiful art, for Hegel, is associated with a form of life, in which the aesthetic unity of spirit and nature becomes social and political reality: the ancient Greek polis. Since the social and political structure of the polis inevitably leads to tragic collisions, Hegel concludes that the value of beauty provides no ground for establishing an ultimate unity of the human individual and the world it lives in. In Hegel's view, it is only philosophical reflection, and the social and political institutions which emerge from such reflection, which can provide an adequate ground for ultimate reconciliation. Nevertheless, I argue, the contemplation of beauty remains a perfectly adequate way of grasping, if not establishing, this unity. Hence according to the interpretation I propose, philosophy is higher than art in a twofold sense for Hegel. On the one hand, it serves a critical function with respect to the value of beauty: it points out the limits of beauty, in particular the fact that beauty is incapable of making the unity of spirit and nature concrete and real, by turning it into social and political reality. On the other hand, philosophy redeems the promise which is left unfulfilled by beauty: to establish an ultimate unity of spirit and nature, of human individual and the world it lives in.
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Keegan, Diana Morna Gerrard Dickson. "A study of Camus' notion of the absurd and its mythology in "Catch-22" and "Slaughterhouse-Five"." Access to citation, abstract and download form provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company; downloadable PDF file, 139 p, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1460433511&sid=5&Fmt=2&clientId=8331&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Hanson, Louise Mary. "Conceptual art : what is it?" Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1ce65d49-6864-4a29-8600-5c54e405ef5e.
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Conceptual Art (henceforth CA) has the peculiar status of being at once a neglected topic in philosophical aesthetics, and one on which a degree of philosophical weight disproportionate to the attention it has received is placed. On the one hand it is frequently mentioned by philosophers as a problematic case, one that general theories of art have difficulty dealing with, but on the other, there is a notable lack of philosophical research taking CA as its focus. It is largely taken as a given that CA is radically different from other art in various ways and thus poses problems for some of the general statements about art that philosophers tend to make. But it is striking that these claims are not, for the most part, grounded in a thorough investigation into the nature of CA. The purpose of my research is to conduct such an investigation; to address the question of what CA is, and what makes it different from other art, in order to come to a clearer view of what particular philosophical issues or difficulties CA raises for the philosophy of art. In existing literature on CA, it is standard to take CA’s distinctiveness to have something to do with the importance of ‘ideas’. I investigate what could be meant here by ‘idea’, and identify two broad schools of thought as to what form this emphasis on ideas in CA takes: Priority Accounts, which claim that in CA ideas are the most important aspect of the work and Constitution Accounts, which claim that works of CA are ideas. I identify serious problems for Constitution Accounts, in general, and for some kinds of Priority Account. I then put forward a new kind of Priority account which I think overcomes the problems faced by its rivals.
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Millsop, Rebecca Victoria. "Precisifying art pluralism." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107093.
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Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2016.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (pages 105-110).<br>This dissertation explores the legitimacy of art pluralism-the thesis that there are multiple, valid accounts of art. In 2011 Mag Uidhir and Magnus introduced the idea of art pluralism to revive the debate over the definition of art. This discussion has been pushed aside over the past half a century because all proposed accounts prove fallible under scrutiny. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to determine how this new approach-art pluralism-might prove useful in obtaining a satisfactory theory of art. In the first chapter, I introduce art pluralism with the aid of species pluralism the thesis that there are multiple, legitimate species accounts. I go on to criticize the arguments for art pluralism provided by Mag Uidhir and Magnus and go on to provide a stronger, direct argument for art pluralism. In the second chapter, I consider the nature of pluralism in depth by introducing the notion of a complex kind. I claim that all pluralistic kinds are complex kinds and that there are multiple ways a kind can be complex. A kind is complex if and only if more than one account is required to explain its unification and working out the nature of this unification results in the precisification of that complex kind. I go on to precisify species pluralism as an example of this process. In the third and fourth chapters, I demonstrate how each of the relevant art accounts-institutional, historical, and aesthetic-succeed and fail in providing the satisfactory account of art on their own. Instead we must understand these accounts as structurally dependent on one another. I describe the result of this particular structural dependence focal-looping pluralism. In the conclusion, I acknowledge the importance of pluralism throughout the narrative of this dissertation but I am forced to question whether or not the thesis I end up arguing for is really best understood as pluralistic. I argue that art is best understood as a complex, not a pluralistic, kind and that the monist/pluralist dichotomy should be understood as less informative than the simple/complex kind distinction more generally.<br>by Rebecca Victoria Millsop.<br>Ph. D.
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Farrelly-Jackson, Steven. "Universalism, morality, and art." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.333323.
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Weis, Kristin K. "Art as Negation: A Defense of Conceptual Art as Art." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1461602608.
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McGuiggan, James Camien. "This is art : a defence of R.G. Collingwood's philosophy of art." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2017. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/407958/.
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Luzardo, Jesus. "Upbuilding oppositions: Kierkegaard, Camus, and the philosophy of love." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 2013. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/872.
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Despite the fact that they are both known as leading figures of existentialism, the relationship between 19th century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard and 20th century French philosopher and novelist Albert Camus has largely gone unexplored in secondary scholarship. In the few times that their relationship is discussed, focus is heavily placed on the most obvious difference between the two thinkers: their religious orientations, which tends to prevent any further analysis or discussion. Furthermore, popular conceptions of each thinker-largely informed by their most popular works, arguably Fear and Trembling and The Myth of Sisyphus, respectively-tend to depict them as pessimistic and individualistic figures, the former basing his philosophy on an irrational leap of faith and the latter basing his own on the world's meaninglessness and absurdity. The purpose of this thesis is to provide an alternative, or rather a corrective, to these aforementioned views on the two thinkers. Through literary and philosophical analyses, I will attempt to demonstrate not only that there is a concrete, fecund relationship between Kierkegaard and Camus, but furthermore that this relationship is grounded in a practical, duty-based philosophy of love. The thesis will look at three concepts that play a key role in both philosophies: the absurd, love, and aesthetic creation. As the analysis progresses, it is repeatedly shown that the thinkers' opposing views on theology do not prevent us from finding similar conceptions and practical manifestations of selfhood, neighborly and romantic love, and the social role of the artist. Thus, I shall argue that they are most properly understood as philosophers of love who saw themselves as social critics whose main goal was to help eradicate the corrupting and dangerous nihilism of their respective eras rather than as traditional philosophers.<br>B.A.<br>Bachelors<br>Arts and Humanities<br>Philosophy
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Al-Obaid, Hanan. "Philosophy of Islamic ornament in Islamic art." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2005. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/55634/.
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The view of Islamic art as a minor art and its various ornaments as without any purpose or meaning is questionable since such a perspective ignores the great influence of the Islamic religion on it. This study investigates in close detail the philosophy of ornament in Islamic art. Clearly, Islamic ornamentation plays a central role in Islamic art and architecture. It is divided into four main elements: Arabic calligraphy, vegetal and geometric ornament, and human and animal figural representation. Due to the significance of Islamic ornamentation, this study will examine its origins, development and impacts on the art and architecture of other cultures as well as the influence of other cultures on the development of Islamic ornamentation. It will also examine the rich historical and cultural background from which the art of Islamic ornament emerged in order to identify the characteristics of Islamic ornament in the context of history, its development, its aesthetic values and its underlying philosophy and forms of expression. In this study the historical survey method is employed to examine the development of Islamic ornamental elements. This study also explores the various Islamic ornamental methods and techniques that artists used to create beautiful Islamic ornaments as well as the meanings of Islamic ornamental symbols in both Islamic art and architecture. This study identifies the most important factors contributing to the beauty of Islamic ornamentation. The nature of the relationship between Islamic artists and spectators and their roles in the context of Islamic art also is examined. The thesis concludes that Islamic ornamentations are based on a divine philosophy that stimulates contemplation of God's Majesty and transcendence through wonder at the cosmos He has created. Another important characteristic of Islamic culture is its acceptance of cultural variations which it absorbed and then used to develop its own unique character and identity. Finally, the study identifies two types of Islamic ornamentation, namely, secular ornamentation and pure Islamic ornamentation, and offers a contrastive definition of both.
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Engstrom, Timothy Hildreth. "Pragmatic rhetoric and the art of philosophy." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/18866.
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Rampley, Matthew. "Dialectics of contingency : Nietzsche's philosophy of art." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/14775.
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This thesis examines the function of art in Nietzsche's philosophy. Its primary concern is with Nietzsche's turn to art as the means to counter what he terms metaphysics. Metaphysics is a metonym for the system of beliefs sustaining our culture whereby human judgements about the world are perceived as uncovering an objective truth antecedent to those judgements, with an implicit faith in the possibility of exhausting the totality of these antecedent truths. This thesis consequently has two principal strands. The first is to analyse Nietzsche's criticism of metaphysics. The second is to explore the way in which, using a specific understanding of art, Nietzsche attempts to reconcile extreme scepticism towards all forms of human knowledge with a continued belief in their necessity. The thesis argues that Nietzsche lays an importance on art as providing an aesthetic education to replace the misguided theoretical orientation of metaphysics. Nietzsche criticises metaphysics for its inability to recognise that its interpretations are mere interpretations, that logic and the rational serve as means to make the world meaningful from the human perspective. My thesis explores how he sees art, and in particular the tragic, as constituting a mode of world interpretation which declares its status as such. I argue that for Nietzsche this is crucial inasmuch as a failure to recognise the contingency of our interpretations results in a refusal to give value in any interpretations. For Nietzsche the advent of the Modern age heralds the danger of such refusal, and hence I argue that his turn to art is a response to the specifically Modern temptation to descend into mere cynical Nihilism.
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Nickels, Zachary. "The Art of Loneliness." Kent State University Honors College / OhioLINK, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1462549085.
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Rinaldi, Juan. "Art and geopolitics : politics and autonomy in Argentine contemporary art." Thesis, Kingston University, 2013. http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/26287/.
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This thesis critically analyses the implications of a now global capitalist modernity for Theodor W. Adorno's theory of art. The thesis takes as its starting point the sociological presuppositions at play in his social theory and problematises the spatial and historical dimensions in which they are embedded. The analysis of the process of homogenisation of social relations that Adorno presents as a constitutive feature of societies during monopoly capitalism brings to the fore the centrality of the state as administrator. This thesis claims that there is a spatial contradiction in Adorno's definition of society, given that the interconnectedness of capitalism as a system is negated by the restriction of that definition to industrialised societies. In other words, there is a universalisation of the particularity of industrialised societies underlying Adorno's social theory, that hides a functionalist understanding of the state and disavows its constitutive character for capitalist social relations. The introduction of an analysis of the particularity of the state in latin American societies serves as a counterpoint to the societies analysed by Adorno. latin American societies are analysed from the point of view of Dependency Theory, particularly in relation to Henrique Cardoso's and Enzo Faletto's concept of dependent development. This concept allows a further differentiation internal to latin American societies and problematises the common assumption that structural heterogeneity is a key concept for understanding these societies. Consequently, the thesis focuses its analysis on the socio-economic and political situation of the societies in the Southern Cone of South America, particularly Argentina, given their relative social homogenisation during the 1960s. The thesis claims that contrary to Adorno's assumption that capitalist social development destroys collective subjectivities while producing homogenisation, the Southern Cone societies show that development and relative social homogenisation in contexts of dependency do not necessarily produce political neutralisation but rather its opposite. The problematisation of Adorno's social theory is further complicated by the historical development of capitalism during neoliberalism. The decoupling of the spatial grounding of the relation between capital and labour constituted during monopoly capitalism is presented from the point of view of the radical transformation of Argentine society from the mid-1970s onwards. The thesis introduced the concept of the 'destruction of the social' in reference to the central role that the process of accumulation by dispossession, as theorised by David Harvey, has for the transformation of Argentina. Given this expanded global context, the thesis then discusses the effects that the transformation of the relation between capital and labour has for the conditions of production of artistic labour during neoliberalism. In particular, it claims that the 'developmentalist' dynamic that aligns technological development, industrialisation and artistic material in Adorno's concept of the new, has been problematised by the primacy of financial valorisation as a form of accumulation, and the dynamic role that accumulation by dispossession has in it. The emergence of a globally expanded labour theory of culture is analysed in relation to the contemporary art produced in Argentina between the late 1960s and the 2000s. The relation between the socially regressive tendencies developed during this period and artistic technique is analysed throguh the introduction of the notion of the 'return to craft.'
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Clancy, Catherine. "Poiesis and obstruction in art practice." Thesis, University of the Arts London, 2015. http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/7842/.
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This PhD thesis examines the concept of poiesis, that is ‘calling into existence that which was not there before’, in the context of obstruction in studio practice. It poses the question ‘Is there a methodology that engages with obstruction which in turn calls new work’? In this thesis, the concept of poiesis emerging from the late Dr. Murray Cox’s ‘Aeolian Mode’, is analyzed alongside a concept of praxis, (a philosophical companion to poiesis), familiar to artistic practice. This thesis describes the orientation of the original idea, The Aeolian Mode, clinically developed by Dr. Murray Cox in Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital. This PhD seeks to identify if there are similar ‘tenets of approach’ held within the methodology of ‘The Aeolian Mode’, that would be useful or are identifiable in artistic studio practice. This thesis draws on the work of the philosopher, Professor Richard Kearney, specifically Kearney’s ideas on the necessity of ‘the other’ for ‘radical possibility’ to occur. It maps a context of both Freudian and Jungian interpretations of art practice, identifying how these ideas have shaped the way art is seen today. Furthermore, it challenges the Freudian idea of ‘pathography’ and favours a Jungian approach of ‘individuation’ in the understanding of creative processes. It develops a ‘methodology of the conversation’, interviewing students, established artists, tutors about their approaches to obstruction/poiesis in art practice. Additionally, it examines my own obstruction to painting and identifies the methodology that released me from this obstruction. Conducting these interviews on art practice has enabled me to confirm my initial concerns about Freudian ‘pathography’ whilst validating the possibility of the Jungian concept of ‘individuation’ being of use to art practice. Finally, this PhD discusses the implications for further study and research, which have emerged during the ‘methodology of the conversation’ and the task of dissolving my obstruction to painting.
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Bresnahan, Aili. "Dance As Art: A Studio-Based Account." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2012. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/173544.
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Philosophy<br>Ph.D.<br>This dissertation is an attempt to articulate the conviction, born of ten years of intensive experience in learning and practicing to be a dance performer, that the dance performer, through collaboration with the choreographer, makes an important contribution to how we can and do understand artistic dance performance. Further, this contribution involves on-the-fly-thinking-while-doing in which the movement of the dancer's body is run through by consciousness. Some of this activity of "consciousness" in movement may not be part of the deliberative mentality of which the agent is aware; it may instead be something that is part of our body's natural and acquired plan for how to move in the world that is shaped by years of artistic and cultural training and practice. The result is a qualitative and visceral performance that can, although need not, be a representation of some deliberative thought or intention that a dancer can articulate beforehand. It is also the sort of thinking movement that in many cases can be conceived as expression; an utterance of dance artists that is not limited to the communication of emotion that can be appreciated and understood, at least in principle, by a public or audience. What this means for the Philosophy of Dance as Art includes the following: 1) there may not always be a stable, fixed "work" of dance art that can be identified, going forward, as the only relevant work on which critical and philosophical attention should be focused because of variable, contingent and irreducibly individual features of live dance performances, attributable in large part to the efforts, style and improvisation of particular dance performers; 2) the experience of dance artists is relevant to understand dance as art because experiential evidence of practice can supplement and ground the appreciable properties that we can detect in artistic dance performances; 3) artistic dance performance can be conceived as expression without being expressive of either an artist's felt emotion or of human emotion in general - no particular content is needed as long as there is a content; 4) artistic dance performance conceived as expression can, but need not, function as representation in both the strong (imitative) and weak (referential) sense; and 5) artistic dance performance is real, not illusory and not necessarily either a transformation or transfiguration of the real. Dance as art, like theatre, like music and even, perhaps, like painting, sculpture and architecture, although in less clearly artist-present, extemporaneous and embodied ways, is human-constructed, human-understood, human-driven and a full, rich, interactive and meaningful part of human life.<br>Temple University--Theses
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Polloli, François. "Dimension de l'absurde dans les musiques de György Ligeti et de György Kurtág /." Saint-Denis : U.F.R. Arts-Philosophie-Esthétique, 2004. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb40029721z.
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Thomas, Christopher. "The place of art in Spinoza's naturalist philosophy." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2017. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=237177.
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The lack of discussion on art in Spinoza's works has led to the belief that a) the principles of his philosophy are actively hostile to art, and b) that his philosophy has nothing to offer regarding art's theorisation. This thesis examines the few places that Spinoza refers to art in order to discern three things: I) what Spinoza's thoughts on art are; II) how his views on art fit into the wider themes of his philosophy; and III) how his general philosophical position as well as his specific ideas on art might contribute to new models of theorising art. In Chapter One I develop Spinoza's relational and naturalistic concept of individuation, therein providing the theoretical ground for the subsequent chapters which, following Spinoza, treat the work of art as a complex body that conforms to the rules of individuation as they are developed across the Ethics. Chapter Two locates Spinoza's views on the creative act from what he notes of architecture, painting, and other 'things of this kind' in IIIP2Schol. Here I argue that Spinoza radically naturalises the creative act, deriving it from the complex causal activity of extended substance itself. To this extent art is given in IIIP2Schol as an expression of the complexity of Nature. Chapter Three turns to Spinoza's brief words on art and culture in IVP45Schol to ascertain his position on artistic experience. Here I argue that according to IVP45Schol art's necessity for the wise man lies in its ability to foster affective complexity. Chapter Four turns to that other peculiarly human artefact, Holy Scripture, to identify how 'nonnatural' objects come to be differentiated from merely 'natural' objects in Spinoza's strong naturalism. Finally I end with an appendix that brings Spinozistic principles to bear on a consideration of a poem by Futurist poet Mina Loy.
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Smith, Jared L. "From One to All: The Evolution of Camus's Absurdism." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586797469986232.
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Walsh, Dale. "Art and secular spirituality." Thesis, McGill University, 2001. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=33946.
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Despite the numerous examples throughout history, the study of secular spirituality in art was mostly ignored until recently by contemporary writers, critics, historians, philosophers and educators. In my thesis, through the examination of selected images and writings, I determine how a differentiation between doctrinal and secular spirituality can be established. The importance of a rooted cosmopolitan outlook with respect to cross-cultural artistic manifestations is explored with the aim of synthesizing spiritual elements that transcend all cultures. The political, social and educational implications of ignoring spirituality are examined. A proposal to incorporate spirituality into education is introduced using art as a means to self-knowledge and understanding the implications of interconnectedness.
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Daunais, Isabelle. "L'absurde comme élément comique dans les contes d'Alphonse Allais." Thesis, McGill University, 1988. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=63958.
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Weh, Michael. "Being art - a study in ontology." Thesis, St Andrews, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/213.
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Aldous, Veronica. "An exploration of the transcending experience in the art-making process." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2002. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/744.
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This study explored the transcending experience as described by visual artists that sometimes occurs during the art-making process. The exploration was conducted within a philosophical framework informed by the researcher's practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM). From this perspective, transcending is related to personal, inner (subjective), and ephemeral aesthetic experiences which never-the-less make a powerful contribution to the visual artist's experience of the creative process and to a lesser extent, the final product. The focus of the study was on the identification and documentation of the personal and subjective aspects of art-making. The study consisted of two parts; (a) this written thesis that elucidates and supports the argument, and (b) an exhibition of paintings, drawings, and journals which represent a personal narrative. The research questions for the written document are directed towards extracting artists' statements that describe the nature and benefits of transcending during art-making. Document analysis techniques were employed to study the writings of a variety of artists and to create a mosaic of insightful commentary. As a visual arts educator, the significance of the study related to the benefits of the art-making process for students of all ages. Both the exhibition and written document are presented to demonstrate that art-making and the viewing of art can provide access to silent (inner) experiences of the human mind. Strengthening the students' spiritual/aesthetic experience through art-making may bring the benefits of personal enrichment for some students by promoting the development of stronger self-concepts and self-esteem. This study presents research about an aspect of visual arts education that has to date been largely ignored. Arguments for the development of self-realization and a fuller understanding of the aesthetic experience may contribute to a case for strengthening the place of the visual arts within the curriculum.
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Martel, Marie D. "L'oeuvre comme interaction : anti-textualisme, actionnalisme et ontologie écologique." Thesis, McGill University, 2004. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=85187.
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In this thesis, we defend the view of works-as-interaction by developing three independent arguments: the anti-textualist, the actionalist and the ecological arguments. The anti-textualist argument has two parts. First, the uniform category of text does not cover the diversity of types of literary works, as it is shown by oral works, multiple-texts works, visual literary works and numerical literary works. Second, we reject the idea that the text is sufficient to give the identity conditions of the literary work. The latter argument forces us to include the history of production and, in particular, of the generative actions required for the apprehension and appreciation of the ontology of the literary work. This is the historicist argument. However, before defending an actionalist point of view, various alternatives are considered. Thus, we consider various textualist proposals that claim to be able to accommodate historical aspects of the production of a work. From the weaknesses of these views, we move to other, more historically inclined, positions, in particular Levinson's post-textualist position. However, the latter is based on a theory of types which we find to be incompatible with his historicist inclinations. Moreover, Levison's views do not meet the requirements of an epistemology of performance. Thus, the actional thesis seems to be the only alternative left. Using Davies theory of performance as a springboard, we develop and defend the idea of the work-as-interaction according to which a work consists in a relation between the generative action and the integrative action. We also include an ecological premise. We develop a further criticism of analytic aesthetics and the theory of performance, arguing that the actions composing the environment, the context of reception in which the generative action is integrated, have to be included. Our thesis of work-as-interaction explains, on the side of the generative act, a variety of li
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Lopez, Noelle Regina. "The art of Platonic love." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5e9b2d70-49d9-4e75-b445-fcb0bfecdcef.
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This is a study of love (erōs) in Plato’s Symposium. It’s a study undertaken over three chapters, each of which serves as a stepping stone for the following and addresses one of three primary aims. First: to provide an interpretation of Plato’s favored theory of erōs in the Symposium, or as it’s referred to here, a theory of Platonic love. This theory is understood to be ultimately concerned with a practice of living which, if developed correctly, may come to constitute the life most worth living for a human being. On this interpretation, Platonic love is the desire for Beauty, ultimately for the sake of eudaimonic immortality, manifested through productive activity. Second: to offer a reading of the Symposium which attends to the work’s literary elements, especially characterization and narrative structure, as partially constitutive of Plato’s philosophical thought on erōs. Here it’s suggested that Platonic love is concerned with seeking and producing truly virtuous action and true poetry. This reading positions us to see that a correctly progressing and well-practiced Platonic love is illustrated in the character of the philosopher Socrates, who is known and followed for his bizarre displays of virtue and whom Alcibiades crowns over either Aristophanes or Agathon as the wisest and most beautiful poet at the Symposium. Third: to account for how to love a person Platonically. Contra Gregory Vlastos’ influential critical interpretation, it’s here argued that the Platonic lover is able to really love a person: to really love a person Platonically is to seek jointly for Beauty; it is to work together as co-practitioners in the art of love. The art of Platonic love is set up in this way to be explored as a practice potentially constitutive of the life most worth living for a human being.
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North, John Harry. "Wincklemann's philosophy of art : a prelude to German classicism." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.538667.
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Hernandez, Brian. "Nihilism and the Formulation of a Philosophy of Art." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2011. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67991/.
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Nihilism is often associated with feelings of despair, hopelessness and meaningless. It is certainly true that once the implications of this philosophy become apparent that these feelings are valid. However, this reaction is merely the first stage of dealing with nihilism and stopping here fails to examine the various types of nihilism that deal specifically with knowledge, ethics, metaphysics, truth, and art. Nihilism at its base is a philosophy that recognizes the history of human thought and what it means to be and to think. My focus is the way in which a completed nihilism is in fact an emancipatory act and the implications it has for art and the artist in the 21st century.
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Morton, Luise H. "Theories of three conceptual artists : a critique and comparison." Virtual Press, 1985. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/425069.
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Conceptual Art emerged as an international, avant-garde art movement in the mid-60s. Attacking the prevailing aesthetics of modern art, Conceptual artists claim that art lies not in the object itself but in the artist's idea or intention. Their asserted goals have been to combine theory with art and to eliminate the need for form in artworks. The purpose of this study was to examine and critique the key theoretical writings of three artists whose works have been recognized by the critics as significant and seminal for the Conceptual Art Movement: Joseph Kosuth, Sol LeWitt, and Terry Atkinson.Historical aspects relevant to this study included the following: (i) early twentieth-century antecedents of Conceptual Art; (ii) recent avant-garde movements of the 60s and 70s; (iii) the history and nature of the concept theories of Kosuth, LeWitt, and Atkinson; (ii) a critiqueof t ese theories in terms of their consistency and viabi ity for generating art; (iii) a comparison of Conceptual Art theories with both commonly accepted theories of art and more radical aesthetic theories of contemporary philosophers.Upon completion of this study, it was concluded that despite many ideological differences, Kosuth, LeWitt, and Atkinson agree on two key notions: (i) the locus of the "work of art" is not a physical object; and (ii) it is the artist's idea which alone accounts for the significance of an artwork. Their arguments in support of these notions are unsatisfactory. Longstanding issues in aesthetics, viz., the problems of defining art and evaluating its significance, are not resolved. The critics' acclaim of the writings critiqued in this study must therefore rest on extrinsic features such as the prestige of the artists, the relevance of the content of the writings to dominant trends in contemporary art, and the potential historical significance of their challenges to established views about art and aesthetics.
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House, Theresa L. "Making authentic connections between art and life an evolution of student engagement in the process of learning art in an elementary classroom /." Ohio : Ohio University, 2009. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?ohiou1213021116.
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Kieran, Matthew Laurence. "The nature and value of art." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/14807.
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This thesis examines the nature and value of art. It is primarily concerned to advance an argument which makes sense of the significance we ordinarily afford art, rather than rendering it merely aesthetic and thus cognitively trivial. Contrary to philosophical orthodoxy, it is argued that 'art' does not have two distinct senses. Rather, we should understand art as an inherently evaluative, evolving cultural practice. Thus, I argue, 'art' is essentially a cluster concept. I consider an account of art according to which it is in the pleasure art affords, that its value lies. However, though we derive pleasure even from apparently unpleasant artworks, the mark of art's value lies elsewhere. That is, the pleasure we derive from art is the result of an artwork's being of value in some other way. Through critically assessing the standard accounts of art's value, I argue that art's pleasures are primarily cognitive. Furthermore, I argue, the cognitive value of art arises primarily from the engagement of our imagination and interpretation of artworks. That is, we enjoy the imaginative activity of engaging with artworks and the promotion of particular imaginative understandings. Furthermore, as imaginative understanding is of fundamental importance in grasping the nature of our world and others, art may have a distinctive significance. That is, art may afford insights into and thus promote our imaginative understandings of our world and others. Thus, through the promotion of imaginative understanding, art may cultivate our moral understanding. Therefore, art is of profound significance and import.
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Miyoshi, Akihiko. "Art and authenticity /." Link to online version, 2005. https://ritdml.rit.edu/dspace/handle/1850/1106.
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Rausch, Juliana Adele. "The New Journalism as Avant-Garde Art." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2017. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/443068.
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English<br>Ph.D.<br>Can journalism be avant-garde? This question arises from the body of work produced by the New Journalists, whose leading figures include Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, and Norman Mailer. Today, this question is urgent for considerations of the journalist’s role within a political landscape increasingly hostile to the news media. Yet it is a question that has not been sufficiently explored in the field of literary study. Scholars of literary journalism have identified the features of an experimental journalism, traced its historical origins, and made claims about how to situate the New Journalism generically. While important, this scholarship overlooks the relationship between experimentation with conventional journalistic form and similar experimentations in other artistic fields. As a result, the stakes of the New Journalism’s experimentations with conventional reporting have not been sufficiently mined. In order to remedy this, I place the New Journalism within a broader history of avant-garde art. The agitation of mainstream journalistic practice undertaken by each of the writers above was spurred by a questioning of a foundational journalistic practice: objectivity. The New Journalists challenged the authority of fact and its capacity to represent the human condition. This challenge to objectivity drove an experimentation with journalistic form that produced a deeply innovative body of work; however, these innovations are not merely formal. They also call into question the epistemological assumptions that tether journalism to a phenomenal world assumed to be fully representable. Significantly, the challenges to objectivity posed by the New Journalists parallel the challenges to representation posed by avant-garde artists like Paul Cezanne and Karel Appel. My dissertation thus situates the challenges to journalistic form undertaken by the New Journalists within a broader history of artistic experimentation and demonstrates that the significance of these experimentations exceeds the fields in which they occur. These arguments provide a framework for understanding not only the formal innovations of avant-garde artists, but also the epistemological consequences, and ethical imperatives, inherent in these innovations. My understanding of avant-garde art is informed by the work of Jean-Francois Lyotard. Over the course of his career, Lyotard illuminated the philosophical dimensions of artistic innovation. For Lyotard, one of the hallmarks of avant-garde experimentation is its ability to confront and redress problems across a variety of discursive fields. That is, Lyotard values avant-garde experimentation because it responds to discourses beyond its own, and much of Lyotard’s writing about avant-garde art establishes connections between artistic innovation and broader issues of ethics, politics, and justice. Over the course of this dissertation, I demonstrate how the New Journalism participates in this tradition by asking questions about the role and responsibility of the reporter through the self-conscious development of an experimental journalistic aesthetic.<br>Temple University--Theses
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Matuk, Nyla Jean. "Charles Taylor on art and moral sources : a pragmatist re-evaluation." Thesis, McGill University, 1994. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=26296.
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The thesis examines Charles Taylor's theory of agency and the moral sources that he believes inform our modern notion of the self. Taylor's concept of the strong evaluator is outlined and brought to bear on post-structuralist and postmodernist literary-theoretical positions that attempt to reconcile amoral positions and nonagency with multicultural political demands and the demands of what Taylor calls a "culture of authenticity". In order to do full justice to a theory of art that would incorporate Taylor's concept of agency, however, it becomes necessary to critique the philosopher's account of art, which he derives from widely held doctrines of Romanticism and aesthetic autonomy found in the Western tradition. The concept of a pragmatist approach to art serves as the main argument against Taylor's views, which exclude certain agents and their social experiences. Those agents who do not subscribe to Romantic and high Modernist ideas about art's function can often be said to adopt a pragmatic critique, which takes into account the uses of art in defining modern identities, and exposes the social privilege that has typically accompanied the autonomy that art has been awarded.
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Andersson, Asa K. "Intimations of intimacy : phenomenological encounters between contemporary art and philosophy." Thesis, Staffordshire University, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.299938.
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Jackson, Myles Wayne. "Goethe's law and order : nature and art in Elective Affinities." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.386168.
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Nogues, Rosa. "The body of sexuation : feminist art practice in the 1990s." Thesis, Kingston University, 2013. http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/27842/.
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The representation of the female body at the centre of a number of art practices of the 1990s reveals a radical problematisation of sex. What constitutes the body as sexed? What is the sex of the female body? Is the female body the body of 'woman'? This thesis argues that these are some of the questions raised by the work of a loose group of artists who came to prominence in the 1990s, such as Rist, McCarty, Yuskavage and Beecroft, and whose work was largely excluded from the field of feminist art. Our claim is that the work of these artists requires that it be critically understood as a specific intervention within the field of feminist art and criticism. The fundamental question at the root of the thesis concerns the precise nature of the female body and its relation to sex and sexual difference. Our discussion is positioned outside both biology - where sexual difference is determined by the function in reproduction - and sociology, where the highlighting of the inequality of the social manifestations of sexual difference leaves the principle of the binary organisation of sex unexamined. Our argument is located within the field of feminist art criticism, and more specifically, the feminist critique of representation, and so, it is in terms of the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan, which provided the conceptual tools for this critique, that the specific problematic as regards the nature of the female body, which the practices discussed pinpoint, is addressed. The thesis investigates Lacan's conceptualisation of sexuatian as neither a biological nor a sociological category and argues that it provides an articulation of sex, based on the fundamental principle that 'there is no sexual relation', which leads not to a theory of sexual differentiation, but to an articulation of two possibilities of 'jouissance', the latter being that in terms of which the sexed body is produced. In engaging with the representation of the female body in the relevant art practices from the 1990s in terms of this conception of the body produced by sexuation, this thesis argues that these practices present a radical problematisation of sex. It is in terms of this fundamental feminist exercise of critically engaging with the meaning and nature of sex that their intervention within the field of feminist art and criticism must be understood.