Abstract

Arthur C.Danto（1924-2013）is one of the most influential philosophers of art in the United States.He constructs a systemic philosophy of art in the analytic tradition，and is well-known for his thoughts of the“artworld”and of“the end of art”，which have made ongoing influences on the progress of contemporary philosophy of art.

The concept of representation，which mainly concerns the relationship between the mind and the world，is central to Danto's philosophy of art and his system of philosophies at large.In the light of the concept of representation，this book，while putting Danto's philosophy of art in the context of his whole system of philosophies，of the western tradition of philosophy of art，and of contemporary philosophical currents，studies Danto's ontology of art，philosophy of art history and art criticism，which interdepend，interconnect and intersupplement，and constitute a complete system of representationalist philosophy of art.

Representationalism is an essentialism of art which enjoys a very long history in the west.Representationalism takes art as a kind of representation，which，connecting with and distinguished from the world at the same time，is of great epistemological value.Since its initiation—the theory of mimesis in ancient Greece，representationalism has witnessed ongoing modifications and adjustments to accommodate to different ideas and practice of art in different times.The representationalist philosophy of art of Arthur C.Danto is the new development of representationalism in the condition of the new era and the currents of new thoughts about art.From indiscernibles in contemporary art，Danto concluded that the essence of art lies in its aboutness，which constitutes his representationalist ontology of art.His philosophy of art history argues that the essence of art only reveals itself through history.Now that art has ended，art has been liberated from all master narratives and acquired freedom.Contemporary art therefore is deeply pluralistic，corresponding to which，Danto adopts a pluralism in his art criticism.The representationalist philosophy of art of Arthur C.Danto thus sticks to essentialism while integrating historicism and pluralism，which gives us important suggestions both theoretically and methodologically for China's reflectionism of art.

Key Words：Arthur C.Danto representation philosophy of art “the artworld” “the end of art”