Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9814-1840
Graduation Year
2025
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy
Second Department
Art History
Reader 1
Martin Glazier
Reader 2
George Gorse
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
2025 Emma HB Rosenberg
Abstract
What kind of a thing is an artwork? Artworks are an extensive, complex category including all manner of media and content. This makes the project of determining what artworks themselves are a significant challenge. Nevertheless, there are many things we intuitively desire to say about what artworks are like and what value they offer. One underexplored theory which I will here argue successfully accommodates many of these features is that of artworks as universals.
It is not my aim in this thesis to compare this theory with other, rival theories of artworks. Rather, I will argue that the theory supports elegant responses to some problems in the ontology of art. Artwork universals, as I define them, exist outside spacetime and are more or less skeletons of conjunctive properties which all of their instances will possess. They bear some resemblance to Platonic universals, with important differences. The aim of this thesis is to convince its readers of the plausibility of viewing artworks as universals.
I begin with a summary of important desiderata for any successful theory of artworks in Part I. Part II motivates and presents my preferred theory of universals. Part III considers important objections to the artwork universals theory. In Part IV, I return to the desiderata to show that each can be met by the theory. Part V situates this theory in art historical understanding. Part VI concludes the thesis.
Recommended Citation
Rosenberg, Emma H.B., "On the Nature of Artworks: An Argument for Artwork Universals" (2025). Scripps Senior Theses. 2672.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2672
