Online research in philosophy

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• Postdoc, Australian National University
• PhD, Australian National University, 2007.

• Aesthetics

• Philosophy of Religion
• Aesthetics
• 17th/18th Century Philosophy

My main interest is the philosophy of art. I am neither 'analytic' nor 'continental' in approach. Where questions about the nature and significance of art are concerned, I believe both schools have serious shortcomings. If forced to sum these up in a couple of sentences, I would say that the analytic approach is not really philosophy of art at all but simply the application of the general methodology of analytic philosophy to art as one object among others; while the 'continental' approach is very largely ideology as applied to art. Neither takes art as its starting point. Perhaps, fundamentally, they don't think it important enough...

6 items found. Sort by: publication yearfirst authorviewingsaddition date Derek Allan (2009). Art and the Human Adventure: André Malraux's Theory of Art. Rodopi. The Definition of Art in Aesthetics The Value of Art in Aesthetics In my reading list   |  Discuss this book  |  Edit  |  Categorize  |     My bibliography  |   Export citation | Scholar | More.. Derek Allan (2009). An Intellectual Revolution André Malraux and the Temporal Nature of Art. Journal of European Studies 39 (2):198-224. Very little has been written in recent decades about the temporal nature of art. The two principal explanations provided by our Western cultural tradition are that art is timeless (`eternal') or that it belongs within the world of historical change. Neither account offers a plausible explanation of the world of art as we know it today, which contains large numbers of works which are self-evidently not timeless because they have been resurrected after long periods of oblivion with significances quite different (...) from those which they originally held, and which also seem to have escaped history because, though long-forgotten, they have `come alive' again for us today. In his two key works on the theory of art, "Les Voix du silence" and "La Métamorphose des dieux", André Malraux offers an entirely new account of the temporal nature of art based on the concept of metamorphosis. Unlike the traditional explanations, Malraux's account makes sense of the world of art as we now know it. He revolutionizes our understanding of the relationship between art and time. (shrink) The Value of Art in Aesthetics In my reading list   |  Discuss this article  |  Edit  |  Categorize  |     My bibliography  |   Export citation | Scholar | More.. Derek Allan (2009). 'Reckless Inaccuracies Abounding': André Malraux and the Birth of a Myth. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 67 (2):147-158.. After an initial period of popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, André Malraux’s works on the theory of art, "The Voices of Silence" and "The Metamorphosis of the Gods", lapsed into relative obscurity. A major factor in this fall from grace was the frosty reception given to these works by a number of leading art historians, including E.H. Gombrich, who accused Malraux of an irresponsible approach to art history and of "reckless inaccuracies". This essay examines a representative sample of the (...) art historians' arguments and contends that they reveal serious misreadings of Malraux’s texts and a recurring tendency to confuse matters of interpretation with matters of fact. The article suggests that the charge of irresponsibility might well be levelled at the critics themselves, and that the myth of Malraux as guilty of ‘reckless inaccuracies’ needs to be debunked. (shrink) Philosophy of Visual Art, Misc in Aesthetics In my reading list   |  Discuss this article  |  Edit  |  Categorize  |     My bibliography  |   Export citation | Scholar | More.. Derek Allan (2007). Art, Time and Metamorphosis. In Jan Lloyd Jones (ed.), Art and Time. Australian Scholarly Publishing. Philosophy of Visual Art, Misc in Aesthetics Aesthetic Value, Misc in Aesthetics The Value of Art in Aesthetics In my reading list   |  Discuss this article  |  Edit  |  Categorize  |     My bibliography  |   Export citation | Scholar | More.. Derek Allan (2003). André Malraux and the Challenge to Aesthetics. Journal of European Studies 33 (128): 23-40. The Definition of Art in Aesthetics The Value of Art in Aesthetics In my reading list   |  Discuss this article  |  Edit  |  Categorize  |     My bibliography  |   Export citation | Scholar | More.. Derek Allan (2001). Literature and Reality. Journal of European Studies 31 (122):143-156. Truth in Fiction in Aesthetics In my reading list   |  Discuss this article  |  Edit  |  Categorize  |     My bibliography  |   Export citation | Scholar | More..

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