The Definition of Art (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) | art definition
Anydefinitionofarthastosquarewiththefollowinguncontroversialfacts:(i)entities(artifactsorperformances)intentionallyendowedbytheirmakerswithasignificantdegreeofaestheticinterest,oftengreatlysurpassingthatofmosteverydayobjects,firstappearedhundredsofthousandsofyearsagoandexistinvirtuallyeveryknownhumanculture(Davies2012);(ii)suchentitiesarepartiallycomprehensibletoculturaloutsiders–theyareneitheropaquenorcompletelytransparent;(iii)suchentitiessometimeshavenon-aesthetic–ceremonialorreligiousorp...
Any definition of art has to square with the following uncontroversial facts: (i) entities (artifacts or performances) intentionally endowed by their makers with a significant degree of aesthetic interest, often greatly surpassing that of most everyday objects, first appeared hundreds of thousands of years ago and exist in virtually every known human culture (Davies 2012); (ii) such entities are partially comprehensible to cultural outsiders – they are neither opaque nor completely transparent; (iii) such entities sometimes have non-aesthetic – ceremonial or religious or propagandistic – functions, and sometimes do not; (iv) such entities might conceivably be produced by non-human species, terrestrial or otherwise; and it seems at least in principle possible that they be extraspecifically recognizable as such; (v) traditionally, artworks are intentionally endowed by their makers with properties, often sensory, having a significant degree of aesthetic interest, usually surpassin...