Art As Language: Wittgenstein, Meaning, and Aesthetic Theory

"[Art as Language] is in itself extremely valuable as an example of the still largely unappreciated relevance of Wittgenstein's work to traditional philosophical issues. . . . This book, as a more or less encyclopedic critique of aesthetic theories from a Wittgensteinian perspective, will be enlightening to aesthetic theorists who want to know, not what Wittgenstein said about art, but what the relevance of his work is to their use of language as a point of reference for interpreting art." Choice"In a series of acute arguments, Hagberg dismantles the region of grand aesthetic theory that defines art in the terms philosophy has traditionally used to define language. . . . Written with excellence in argumentation, judiciousness, and a capacious knowledge of Wittgenstein." Daniel Herwitz, Common Knowledge"A clear and intelligent book. Hagberg's strategy is to show the consequences of holding a Wittgensteinian view of language and mind for aesthetic theories which are either based on, or analogous to, other non-Wittgensteinian positions about language and mind. This is an important project." Stanley Bates, Middlebury College