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文艺理论研究 ›› 2016, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (1): 8-19.

• 西方文论与美学研究 •    下一篇

艺术史中概括的功用:理解不同传统中的艺术

大卫·戴维斯
  

  1. 加拿大麦吉尔大学哲学系
  • 出版日期:2016-01-25 发布日期:2017-09-22
  • 作者简介:大卫·戴维斯,加拿大麦吉尔大学哲学系主任、教授,出版专著包括《作为表演的艺术》(Blackwell,2004年),《美学与文学》(Continuum,2007年)以及《表演艺术的哲学》(Wiley-Blackwell,2011年),主编多部学术专著,学术研究涉及形而上学、心灵哲学、语言哲学等,并发表大量有关电影、摄影、表演、音乐、文学、视觉艺术等学科的哲学性论文。

The Function of Generalization in Art History: Understanding Art across Traditions

David Davies   

  1. Philosophy at McGill University
  • Online:2016-01-25 Published:2017-09-22
  • About author:David Davies is Professor and Chair of Philosophy at McGill University. He is the author of Art as Performance (Blackwell 2004), Aesthetics and Literature (Continuum 2007), and Philosophy of the Performing Arts (Wiley-Blackwell 2011), editor of The Thin Red Line (Routledge 2008), and co-editor of Blade Runner (Routledge 2015). He has published widely on philosophical issues relating to film, photography, performance, music, literature, and visual art, and on issues in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language.

摘要: 艺术史述说例证着巴克桑德尔(Michael Baxandall)所称的对绘画的“推论式批评”,而巴氏则又可谓沃尔海姆(Richard Wollheim)所谓“作为救回的批评”的一个例证,本文试图探讨如何评估这些述说的充分性。问题在于,我们要如何对阐释设定更为普遍的“科学”限制,将这些述说的阐释性质以及那些要提供跨文化跨历史的理解的诉求一致起来。针对格尔兹探讨的阐释的人种志中提出的问题,本文清理沃尔海姆有关巴克桑德尔的说法,亦即沃氏认为巴氏所述乃“个案内的概括”而非“跨个案的概括”。为此,针对格尔兹所谓的“个案内的概括”,本文提出一种“实用主义的”解读。这样的解读目标在于提供一个“可理解的框架”,以便确定一套推定的能指的位置;这个框架存在的理由在于能够服务于我们的阐释实践所植根的认知兴趣。本文认为,巴氏对“推论式批评”的辩护应该视为一种类似于“实用主义”方式的辩护方法。为此,本文从启发式原则的角度,分析了巴氏的论述。

关键词: 艺术史, 阐释, 迈克尔·巴克桑德尔, 推论式批评, 格尔兹, 个案内概括

Abstract: The paper considers how one might assess the adequacy of art-historical accounts that exemplify what Michael Baxandall terms the 'inferential criticism' of paintings, where the latter is an instance of what Wollheim called 'criticism as retrieval'. The problem is to reconcile the interpretive nature of such accounts, and their claims to provide us with trans-cultural and trans-historical understandings, with more general 'scientific' constraints on explanation. I draw a parallel with a problem in interpretive ethnography considered by Clifford Geertz, and sketch the latter's claim that the former involves 'generalising within cases' rather than 'generalising across cases'. I offer a 'pragmatic' reading of what Geertz means by 'generalising within cases': on this reading, the goal is to provide an 'intelligible frame' in which we can locate a set of presumptive signifiers, one whose justification resides in its serving the cognitive interests that ground our interpretive practice. I then argue that Baxandall's defence of 'inferential criticism' should be seen as adopting a similar 'pragmatic' approach to defending 'inferential criticism'. In arguing for this, the paper gives an analysis of Baxandall's account in terms of a range of heuristic principles that are justified through serving our interests in art history.

Key words: art history, interpretation, Michael Baxandall, inferential criticism, Clifford Geertz, generalising within cases