Abstract

What form should the definition of art take? This is the main question in this paper. In particular, I focus on the property of non-circularity as a constraint that an adequate definition of art must satisfy. Until now, this property has not been satisfactorily discussed in the philosophy of art. I propose to analyze it in terms of metaphysical ground. As a result, the concept of non-circularity will be clarified, and some definitions that have been erroneously criticized as circular will be shown not to be circular at all.