PHILOSOPHY OF THE PERFORMING ARTS “David Davies’s Philosophy of the Performing Arts is long-awaited. Not since Paul Thom’s For an Audience has a book in the Anglo-American philosophical tradition focused so clearly, exclusively, informatively, and fairly on all the performing arts. I will use this book in my classes.” James Hamilton, Kansas State University, author of The Art of Theater “In this outstanding philosophical study, David Davies subjects the different, conflicting literatures characterizing works, performances, and their relationships to critical review en route to developing his own integrated theory. Covering classical music to jazz, Shakespeare to Brecht, dance to performance art, this is essential reading for anyone interested in the performing arts.” Stephen Davies, University of Auckland, author of The Philosophy of Art Philosophical inquiry concerning the performing arts has tended to focus on music – specifically classical music – which is assumed to provide a model for understanding the performing arts as a whole. This book engages with this belief and critically explores how the “classical paradigm” might be extended to other musical genres, to theater, and to dance. Taking in key components of artistic performance – improvisation, rehearsal, the role of the audience, the embodied nature of the artistic performer – the book examines similarities and differences between the performing art forms and presents the key philosophical issues that they bring into play. These reflections are then applied to the disputed issue of those contemporary artworks usually classified as “performance art.” Assuming no prior knowledge of the subject matter, this book provides an accessible, yet sophisticated, introduction to the field and a comprehensive framework for thinking about the performing arts.

Table of Contents:
Preface and Acknowledgments viii Part One Performance and the Classical Paradigm 1 1 The Nature of Artistic Performance 3 1 Introduction 3 2 What is a Performance? 4 3 Institutional Theories of Artistic Performance 7 4 Aesthetic Theories of Artistic Performance 10 5 Artistic Performance and Artistic Regard 14 6 Overview 17 2 The Classical Paradigm I: The Nature of the Performable Work 23 1 Introduction: Berthold and Magda Go to the Symphony 23 2 The Multiple Nature of Performable Works 24 3 Performable Works as Types 29 4 Varieties of Type Theories: Sonicism, Instrumentalism, and Contextualism 32 5 Other Theories of the Performable Work 38 3 The Classical Paradigm II: Appreciating Performable Works in Performance 51 1 Introduction: Talking Appreciatively about Performable Works 51 2 Can Performable Works Share Artistic Properties with Their Performances? 53 3 The Goodman Argument 57 4 Answering the Goodman Argument 62 4 Authenticity in Musical Performance 71 1 Introduction 71 2 Authenticity in the Arts 72 3 Three Notions of Historically Authentic Performance 74 5 Challenges to the Classical Paradigm in Music 87 1 Introduction: The Classical Paradigm in the Performing Arts 87 2 The Scope of the Paradigm in Classical Music 90 3 Jazz, Rock, and the Classical Paradigm 94 4 Non-Western Music and the Classical Paradigm 101 6 The Scope of the Classical Paradigm: Theater, Dance, and Literature 103 1 Introduction: Berthold and Magda Go to the Theater 103 2 Theatrical Performances and Performable Works 105 3 Challenges to the Classical Paradigm in Theater 112 4 Dance and the Classical Paradigm 120 5 The Novel as Performable Work? 128 Part Two Performance as Art 133 7 Performances as Artworks 135 1 Introduction: Spontaneous Performance in the Arts 135 2 The Artistic Status of Performances Outside the Classical Paradigm 138 3 The Artistic Status of Performances Within the Classical Paradigm 143 8 Elements of Performance I: Improvisation and Rehearsal 149 1 Introduction 149 2 The Nature of Improvisation 150 3 Improvisation and Performable Works: Three Models 154 4 Improvisation and Recording 160 5 The Place of Rehearsal in the Performing Arts 164 9 Elements of Performance II: Audience and Embodiment 172 1 Can There Be Artistic Performance Without an Audience? 172 2 Audience Response 181 3 The Embodied Performer and the Mirroring Receiver 189 10 Performance Art and the Performing Arts 200 1 Introduction 200 2 Some Puzzling Cases 201 3 What is Performance Art? 206 4 When Do Works of Performance Art Involve Artistic Performances? 209 5 Performance as Art: A Final Case 216 References 219 Index 226