The institutional theory of art and degree inflation

The institutional theory of art says that any object can be regarded as art so long as it has art-status “conferred” upon it by recognized persons or practices of “the Artworld.” For example, when the artist Marcel Duchamp signs a urinal, presto, it is art. But when I sign a urinal, what we have is simply scribble on a urinal, along with possible concerns about my sanity from family members.

The institutional theory of art is powerful because it is one manifestation of a much more pervasive way all of reality is viewed these days. That way is called structuralism, which is now so taken-for-granted it is old news, having been replaced by newer-fangled notions such as post-structuralism, deconstruction, and the like.

But structuralism remains the germinating factor in shaping outlooks in the humanities; it acts in much the same way that evolution has shaped thinking in the biological sciences. In both, meaning (or life) comes exclusively from within a system, autonomously, without anything outside of that system having any say. As a matter of fact, for both evolution and structuralism, there is no such thing as an “outside.” All meaning is generated from the inside because the inside is all there is -- and that meaning is essentially arbitrary.

All through the history of ideas in the West, primary meaning resided in objects themselves. With structuralism, primary meaning shifts to the relationships between objects. The objects themselves have no value, no meaning. Hence, the art value of the signed urinal resides in the conferral of art value upon it by Duchamp, or the Museum of Modern Art, or art critics, and the like. By itself, the urinal is just a urinal, with no art value.

The opening words of the Bible, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” are unacceptable both to structuralism as well as to evolution. That they are unacceptable to evolution is quite clear, because evolutionary theory recognizes no external Creator. They are also unacceptable to structuralism, because structuralism recognizes no external Author of meaning.

There are many benefits to these theories that pretend to no outside sources of authority. Consider degree inflation. In my years in academia, I’ve noticed the invention of degrees that are quite mysterious. These degrees usually have no clear curricula. The courses to have no clear syllabi. There are no clear bases of knowledge. There are no definitive measures for who can be accepted into these programs (usually all comers are accepted). But players in the university system have mutually winked at each other. And a degree will be conferred, no doubt about it.

These degrees are genuine works of art.

Logos2Go

Genesis 1.1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…

George Dickie, Art and the Aesthetic: An Institutional Analysis, Cornell University Press, 1974, 19-52.