ABSTRACT
Questions about the nature of theories in aesthetics and the philosophy of art and skeptical doubts about whether such theories are even possible did not become serious issues until Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations began to be influential in that area of philosophy in the 1950s. 1 Wittgenstein’s work suggested to a number of philosophers of art that the kinds of theories aestheticians have so often sought are either not possible or, more cautiously, of little help. Despite the considerable measure of debate, those who are skeptical about the role of theories in aesthetics have clearly been in the minority in the last thirty-five years or so. The prevailing opinion seems to be that theories are not only possible, but are essential to the philosophical enterprise of thinking about art and aesthetics. There are, nevertheless, questions about theories that still need to be raised, and I intend to raise some of them here.
