Philosophy of the Performing Arts

David Davies is Associate Professor of Philosophy at McGill University. He is the author of Art as Performance (Blackwell, 2004), Aesthetics and Literature (2007), and the editor of The Thin Red Line (2008). He has published widely in the philosophy of art on topics relating to the nature of art, artistic value, literature, film, music, theatre, and the visual arts.

Preface and Acknowledgments. Part One Performance and the Classical Paradigm. 1 The Nature of Artistic Performance. 1 Introduction. 2 What is a Performance? 3 Institutional Theories of Artistic Performance. 4 Aesthetic Theories of Artistic Performance. 5 Artistic Performance and Artistic Regard. 6 Overview. 2 The Classical Paradigm I: The Nature of the Performable Work. 1 Introduction: Berthold and Magda Go to the Symphony. 2 The Multiple Nature of Performable Works. 3 Performable Works as Types. 4 Varieties of Type Theories: Sonicism, Instrumentalism, and Contextualism. 5 Other Theories of the Performable Work. 3 The Classical Paradigm II: Appreciating Performable Works in Performance. 1 Introduction: Talking Appreciatively about Performable Works. 2 Can Performable Works Share Artistic Properties with Their Performances? 3 The Goodman Argument. 4 Answering the Goodman Argument. 4 Authenticity in Musical Performance. 1 Introduction. 2 Authenticity in the Arts. 3 Three Notions of Historically Authentic Performance. 5 Challenges to the Classical Paradigm in Music. 1 Introduction: The Classical Paradigm in the Performing Arts. 2 The Scope of the Paradigm in Classical Music. 3 Jazz, Rock, and the Classical Paradigm. 4 Non-Western Music and the Classical Paradigm. 6 The Scope of the Classical Paradigm: Theater, Dance, and Literature. 1 Introduction: Berthold and Magda Go to the Theater. 2 Theatrical Performances and Performable Works. 3 Challenges to the Classical Paradigm in Theater. 4 Dance and the Classical Paradigm. 5 The Novel as Performable Work? Part Two Performance as Art. 7 Performances as Artworks. 1 Introduction: Spontaneous Performance in the Arts. 2 The Artistic Status of Performances Outside the Classical Paradigm. 3 The Artistic Status of Performances Within the Classical Paradigm. 8 Elements of Performance I: Improvisation and Rehearsal. 1 Introduction. 2 The Nature of Improvisation. 3 Improvisation and Performable Works: Three Models. 4 Improvisation and Recording. 5 The Place of Rehearsal in the Performing Arts. 9 Elements of Performance II: Audience and Embodiment. 1 Can There Be Artistic Performance Without an Audience? 2 Audience Response. 3 The Embodied Performer and the Mirroring Receiver. 10 Performance Art and the Performing Arts. 1 Introduction. 2 Some Puzzling Cases. 3 What is Performance Art? 4 When Do Works of Performance Art Involve Artistic Performances? 5 Performance as Art: A Final Case. References. Index.