Essentialism and Historicism in Danto's Philosophy of Art

Arthur C. Danto has long defended essentialism in the philosophy of art, yet he has been interpreted by many as a historicist. This essentialism/historicism conflict in the interpretation of his work reflects the same conflict both within his thought and, more importantly, within modern art itself. Danto's strategy for resolving this conflict involves, among other things, a Bildungsroman of modern art failing to discover its essence, an essentialist definition of art provided by philosophy which is indemnified against history, and a thesis about the end of art once it has been defined. Is this strategy successful, or does it result, as I argue, in a philosophical disenfranchisement of art of precisely the type that Danto himself has criticized?     

ASEAN as a “Rules-based Community”: Business as Usual

Abstract

In establishing the ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN political elites emphasised their commitment to the rule of law. The definition of the rule of law adopted in the ASEAN Charter mirrored UN reforms that recognised the rule of law as interlinked with democracy and human rights. This commitment raises questions, given the various tactics employed by the grouping’s authoritarian and post-authoritarian regimes to silence dissent. This article critically assesses this apparent shift in regional governance. It first maps the inclusion of rule of law rhetoric in agreements since ASEAN’s foundation, and then examines the form and implementation of dispute settlement mechanisms. It finds that dispute settlement mechanisms have consistently retained the scope for protracted political and bureaucratic negotiation between disputing parties, and “opt out” clauses that enable their contingent application. These findings undermine claims regarding the development of a “rules-based community”, and indicate the continuation of rule by law rather than rule of law. The emphasis placed on ASEAN’s rule of law reforms by elites suggests, then, the rebranding of this political project in support of the ASEAN Economic Community so as to create confidence for investors in the region’s juridical environment.     

Revision of the damsel-dragonfly family Campterophlebiidae (Odonata) from the Early Jurassic of England reveals a new genus and species

Kelly, R.S. & Nel, A., October 2017. Revision of the damsel-dragonfly family Campterophlebiidae (Odonata) from the Early Jurassic of England reveals a new genus and species. Alcheringa 42, 87–93. ISSN 0311-5518.

Historical fossil insect collections from England were re-examined and the taxa revised. Lateophlebia gen. nov. is erected for Liassophlebia anglicanopsis (Zeuner) in Campterophlebiidae. Petrophlebia anglicana Tillyard is confirmed in this family and Archithemis liassina (Strickland) is transferred to this family. Lastly, Archithemis brodiei (Geinitz), Archithemis Handlirsch, and Architemistidae Tillyard (reduced to this sole species) are transferred to the Heterophlebioidea.

Richard Kelly [richard.kelly@bristol.ac.uk], School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK; Department of Natural Sciences, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF, UK. André Nel [anel@mnhn.fr], Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB—UMR 7205—CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, F-75005, Paris, France.     

Alberta’s Great Experiment in Senatorial Democracy

In 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the unelected nature of the Senate is an inherent feature of Canadian parliamentary democracy and is a central pillar of the constitution. Members of the Upper House are appointed by the Governor General, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister. The decision taken by the Prime Minister is not subject to review by Parliament or the provincial legislative assemblies. Patronage appointments have given the Senate a reputation as a dumping ground for political friends and party insiders. In 1989, the province of Alberta enacted the Senatorial Selection Act, arguing that it would serve as a stepping stone for substantive reform to the Senate. The province has held four elections in which the people of the province have chosen senators-in-waiting. This article argues that the Court’s opinion in Reference re Senate Reform undermines the foundation upon which the provincial statute rests.     

‘Unlike Vancouver … here there’s nothing’: imagined geographies of idealized health care for LGBTQ women

This article explores imagined geographies of health care among Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) women in Halifax and Vancouver. In expressing the possibilities and limitations of accessing care, participants frame their own experiences through spatialized narratives of how LGBTQ people are thought to be treated elsewhere. Participants’ explicit connections and distinctions between Halifax and Vancouver gave insight into how their perceived difficulties in one health care context are sometimes framed by imagining more ease in accessing care in the other. We explore here the implications of these imagined, idealized spaces, which may set up false expectations that things are always better elsewhere. We reveal imagined geographies and senses of place as highly relevant features in LGBTQ women’s accounts of experiences with and access to health care and expand conventional arguments about physical access to care.     

Mortuary Practices,Cultural Context,Bayesian Chronology,and Maize Consumption among Terminal Late Woodland Societies in Northeastern Illinois

In 1940, Gretchen Cutter and a WPA crew conducted excavations in the Mound Wi^o5 at the Fisher site in Will County, Illinois. We examined those materials as part of our reanalysis of the Fisher site excavations by George Langford and the University of Chicago. The mound’s material culture correlates with the Des Plaines phase but contains strong connections to the east, especially with Albee phase mortuary practices. Calibrated ¹⁴C dates and Bayesian modeling place the Des Plaines phase as contemporary with the Mound Wi^o5 mortuary’s primary use during the ninth to eleventh centuries. There is isotopic evidence of a mixed C₃/C₄ diet with some maize consumption. Mound Wi^o5 represents the only Terminal Late Woodland collective mortuary facility currently known in northeastern Illinois. The identification of such multigenerational communal Terminal Late Woodland mortuary practices lends support to the contention that they provided the cultural base for the emergence of the distinctive Langford Tradition accretional mortuary mounds.     

Bringing Organizations Back In: Multilevel Feedback Effects on Individual Civic Inclusion

Policy feedback scholarship has focused on how laws and their implementation affect either organizations (e.g., their resources, priorities, political opportunities, or incentive structures) or individuals (e.g., their civic skills and resources or their psychological orientations toward the state). However, in practice the distinction between organizations and individuals is not clear‐cut: Organizations interpret policy for individuals, and individuals experience policy through organizations. Thus, scholars have argued for a multi‐level model of feedback effects illuminating how policies operating at the organizational level reverberate at the individual level. In this theory‐building article, we push this insight by examining how public policy influences nonprofit organizations’ role in the civic life of beneficiaries. We identify five roles that nonprofit organizations play. For each role, we draw on existing research to identify policy mechanisms that either enlarge or diminish nonprofits’ capacity to facilitate individual incorporation and engagement. From these examples, we derive cross‐cutting hypotheses concerning how different categories of citizens may need policy to operate differently to enhance their civic influence; whether policy that is “delivered” through nonprofits may dampen citizens’ relationship with the state; and how the civic boost provided by policy may be influenced by the degree of latitude conferred on recipient organizations.     

Reviews

Ireland and Scandinavia in the Early Viking Age, HOWARD B. CLARKE, M#AAAIRE NI MHAONAIGH & RAGHNALL #AAO FL#AAOINN (eds), 1998, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp.468, ISBN 1.85182.235.6, £25.00 (hb)

The Making of Ireland, From Ancient Times to the Present, JAMES LYDON, 1998, London and New York, Routledge, pp.425, ISBN 0.415.01348.8, £14.99 (pb)

Pathways to Ulster's Past: Sources and Resources for Local Studies, PETER COLLINS, 1998, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University, pp.xi + 158, ISBN 0.85389.693.3, £6–50 (pb)

If The Irish Ran The World: Montserrat, 1630–1730, DONAL HARMAN AKENSON, 1997, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, pp.273, ISBN 0.85323.952.5, £29.95 (hb); ISBN 0.5232.962.2, £14.95 (pb)

Propagating the Word of Irish Dissent 1650–1800, K. HERLIHY (ed.), 1998, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp.137, ISBN 1.85182.411.1, £30.00 (hb); ISBN 1.85182.412.X, £11.99 (pb)

Ireland Since 1690: A Concise History, ROY DOUGLAS, LIAM HARTE & JIM O'HARA, 1999, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, pp. 247, ISBN 0–85640–645–7, £8.99 (pb)

Ireland: Towards New Identities?, KARL‐HEINZ WESTARP & MICHAEL BOSS (eds), 1998, Denmark, Aarhus University Press [Dolphin Series: 29, General Editor Tim Caudery], pp. 180, ISBN 87.7288.380.4, £14.95 (pb)

The Bellews of Mount Bellew: A Catholic Gentry Family in Eighteenth‐Century Ireland, KAREN J. HARVEY, 1998, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp.218, ISBN 1.85182.351.4, £30.00 (hb)

Henry Flood: Patriots and Politics in Eighteenth‐Century Ireland, JAMES KELLY, 1998, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp.486, ISBN 1.85182.365.4, £39.50 (hb)

Counties of South Ulster 1834–8: Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Volume 40, ANG#AAELIQUE DAY & PATRICK MCWILLIAMS (eds), 1998, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast, pp. 200, ISBN 0.85389.661.5, £8.75 (pb)

Famine Diary, BRENDAN #AAO CATHAOIR, 1999, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, pp. xix + 201, ISBN 0.7165.2655.7, £18.95 (hb)

Famine, Land and Politics: British Government and Irish Society 1843–50 PETER GRAY, 1999 Dublin, Irish Academic Press pp. ix +384, ISBN 0.7165.2564.X, £39.50, US$57.50 (hb)

The Great Shame: A Story of the Irish in the Old World and the New, THOMAS KENEALLY, 1998, London, Chatto and Windus, pp.xvii +732, ISBN 0.091.83736.7, £25.00 (hb)

Some Ethical Questions of Peace and War, WALTER MCDONALD, 1919; TOM GARVIN (ed.), 1998, Dublin, University College Dublin Press, pp. 140, ISBN 1.900621.18.5, £9.95 (pb)

The Victory of Sinn Fein, P. S. O'HEGARTY, 1924; TOM GARVTN (ed.), 1998, Dublin, University College Dublin Press, pp. 164, ISBN 1.900621.17.7, £10.95 (pb)

Dividing Ireland: World War I And Partition, THOMAS HENNESSEY, 1998, London, Routledge, pp.280, ISBN 0.415.19880.1, £16.99 (pb)

Location and Dislocation in Contemporary Irish Society: Emigration and Irish Identities, JIM MACLAUGHLIN (ed.), 1997, Cork, Cork University Press, pp.354, ISBN. 1.85918.054X, £45.00 (hb); ISBN.1.85918.055.8, £15.95 (pb)

John Hume and the SDLP: Impact and Survival in Northern Ireland, GERARD MURRAY, 1998, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, pp.328, ISBN 0.7165.2644.1, IR£27.57 (hb)

Battling for Peace, RICHARD NEEDHAM, 1999, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, pp. 344, ISBN 0.85640.654.6, £12.99 (pb)

Talking to the Dead: A Study of Irish Funerary Traditions, NINA WITOSZEK & PAT SHEERAN, 1998, Amsterdam, Rodopi, Costerus New Series 117, pp. 182, ISBN 9.789042.00531.0, £19.50 (pb)

Robert Shipboy Mac Adam: his life and Gaelic proverb collection, A. J. HUGHES, 1998, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, pp. 240, ISBN 0.85399.698.4, £9.95 (pb)

Irish Popular Culture, 1650–1850, JAMES S. DONNELLY, JR. & KERBY A. MILLER (eds), 1998, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, pp.284, ISBN 0.7165.2551.8, £32.50 (hb)

The Present Lasts a Long Time: Essays in Cultural Politics, FRANCIS MULHERN, 1998, Cork, Cork University Press, pp.203, ISBN 1.85918.225.9, £14.95 (pb)

Media Audiences in Ireland: Power and Cultural Identity, MARY J. KELLY & BARBARA O'CONNOR (eds), 1997, Dublin, University College Dublin, pp.288, ISBN 1.900621.09.6, £13.50 (pb)

Ireland and Cultural Theory: The Mechanics of Authenticity, COLIN GRAHAM & RICHARD KIRKLAND (eds), 1999 Basingstoke, Macmillan, pp. 249, ISBN 0–333–67597–5, £16.99 (pb)

The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual, ALEXEI KONDRATIEV, 1998, Cork, Collins Press, pp.263, ISBN 1.898256.42.X, £12.99 (pb)

Conversing with Angels and Ancients: Literary Myths of Medieval Ireland, JOSEPH FALAKY NAGY, 1997, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp.356, ISBN 1.85182303.4, £35.00 (hb)

Margaret Aylward 1810–1889: Lady of Charity, Sister of Faith, JACINTA PRUNTY, 1999, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp. 192, ISBN 1.85182.438.3, £14.95 (pb)

Poets and Politics: Reaction and Continuity in Irish Poetry, 1558–1625, MARC CABALL, 1998, Cork, Field Day Monographs/Cork University Press, Series Editor, Seamus Deane, pp.232, ISBN 1.85918.162.7, £16.95 (pb)

The Anglo‐Irish Novel and the Big House, VERA KREILKAMP, 1998, Syracuse, NY, Syracuse University Press, pp.289, ISBN 0.8156.2752.1, US$44.95 (hb)

Irish Encounters: Poetry, Politics and Prose since 1S80, ALAN MARSHALL & NEIL SAMMELLS (eds), 1998, Bath, Sulis Press, pp. 199, ISBN 0.9526856.3.9, £35.00 (hb); ISBN 0.9526856.4.7, £13.95 (pb)

Red‐Headed Rebel: Susan L. Mitchell, Poet and Mystic of the Irish Cultural Renaissance, HILARY PYLE, 1998, Dublin, Woodfield Press, pp.248, ISBN 0.9528453.7.7, £12.50 (pb)

The Harlem and Irish Renaissances: Language, Identity and Representation, TRACY MISHKIN, 1998, Gainsville, FL, University Press of Florida, pp. 127, ISBN 0.8130.1611.8, US$49.95 (hp)

Advertising and Commodity Culture in Joyce, GARRY LEONARD, 1998, Gainesville, FL, University Press of Florida, pp.252, ISBN 0–8130–1632–0, US849.95 (hb)

Joyce, Joyceans and the Rhetoric of Citation, ELOISE KNOWLTON, 1998, Gainesville, FL, University Press of Florida, pp.x+ 135, ISBN 0.8130.1610‐X, £39.95 (hb)

Theatre of Shadows: Samuel Beckett's Drama, 1956–1976, ROSEMARY POUNTNEY, 1998, Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe, pp.309, ISBN 0.86140.407.6, £12.95 (pb)

The Unappeasable Host: Studies in Irish Identities, ROBERT TRACY, 1998, Dublin, University College Dublin Press, pp.288, ISBN 1.900621.06.1, £30.00 (hb); ISBN 1.900621.07.X, £15.95 (pb)

Mistaken Identities: Poetry and Northern Ireland, PETER MCDONALD, 1997, Oxford, Clarendon Press, pp. ix + 226, ISBN 0.19.818422.0, £35.00 (hb)

Folklore and the Fantastic in Twelve Modern Irish Novels, MARGUERITE QUINTELLI‐NEARY, 1997, Westport, CT and London, Greenwood Press, pp. 166, ISBN 0.313.30490.4, £39.50 (hb)

Contemporary Irish Literature: Transforming Tradition, CHRISTINA HUNT MAHONY, 1998, New York, St Martin's Press, pp.299, ISBN 0.312.15871.8, US$55.00 (hb); ISBN 0.312.21901.6, US$18.95 (pb)

Selected Plays of Micheál mac Liammóir, JOHN BARRETT (ed.), 1998, Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe; Washington, DC, Catholic University of America Press, pp.319, ISBN 0.86140.154.9, £30.00 (hb); ISBN 0.86140.155.7, £9.95 (pb)

Selected Plays: T. C. Murray, RICHARD ALLEN CAVE, 1998, Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe, pp. 274, ISBN 0.86140.142.5, £30.00 (hb)

Selected Plays: M. J. Molloy, ROBERT O'DRISCOLL, 1998, Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe, pp.394, ISBN 0.86140.148.4, £35.00 (hb);, ISBN 0.86140.149.2, £9.93 (pb)

Sacrilege, BRENDAN CLEARY, 1998, Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne, Bloodaxe Books, pp. 96, ISBN 1.85224.460.7, £7.95 (pb), Snakeskin Stilettos, MOYRA DONALDSON, 1998, Belfast, Lagan Press, pp. 78, ISBN 1.8736.8725.7, £5.95 (pb.)

The Things that Were, AUBREY DILLON‐MALONE, 1998, Dublin, Ashfield Press, pp. 256, ISBN 1.901658.090.0, £7.99 (pb)

Getting Used to Not Being Remarkable, MICHAEL FOLEY, 1998, Belfast, The Black Staff Press, pp. 306, ISBN 0.85640.626.0, £8.99 (pb)

Re/Dressing Cathleen: Contemporary Works from Irish Women Artists, JENNIFER GRINNELL & ALSTON CONLEY (eds), 1997, Boston, McMuIlen Museum of Art, Boston College and Cork, Cork University Press, pp. 144, ISBN 0.9640153.8.2, £14.95 (pb)

Contemporary Irish Cinema Cineaste Supplement, vol. xxiv, nos. 2–3, March 1999, New York, pp. 23–76, ISSN 25274.79078, US$6.00     

Disparity Despite Diversity: Social Injustice in New York City's Urban Agriculture System

Many studies have documented the benefits of urban agriculture, including increased food access, job creation, educational opportunities, and green space. A focus on its social benefits has fed an association of urban agriculture with social justice, yet there is a distinction between alleviating symptoms of injustice (such as disparate access to food or environmental amenities) and disrupting structures that underlie them. Despite its positive impacts, urban agriculture systems may reinforce inequities that practitioners and supporters aim to address. This paper reports findings from a 2‐year study of urban agriculture in New York City, which found race‐ and class‐based disparities among practitioners citywide. Using the lens of critical race theory, it argues that a failure to examine urban agriculture's role in either supporting or dismantling unjust structures may perpetuate an inequitable system. The paper concludes with recommendations for urban agriculture supporters and scholars to help advance social justice at structural levels.