Representational and Mimetic Theories of Art

Representational theories hold that art is essentially imitation or depiction of the world, an idea descending from the ancient Greek concept of mimesis.

Definition

A representational theory of art holds that something is art in virtue of imitating, depicting, or otherwise standing for objects, events, or states of affairs; in its strongest form it makes representation the defining essence of art.

Scope

This topic covers theories that identify art with representation or imitation: Plato's critique of mimesis as twice removed from reality, Aristotle's more favorable account of poetic imitation, and modern analyses of pictorial representation such as Goodman's symbol-theoretic account and Walton's make-believe theory. It addresses both the historical mimetic tradition and contemporary philosophy of depiction. It does not treat expressive or formal theories of art, covered in sibling topics.

Core questions

• What does it mean for a picture or text to represent something?
• Is representation necessary or sufficient for an object to be art?
• How do Plato and Aristotle differ on the value of mimesis?
• Can representation be analyzed in terms of resemblance, convention, or make-believe?

Key theories

Mimesis as imitation

The classical view that art imitates nature or action; Plato treats this imitation as epistemically and morally suspect, while Aristotle defends poetic mimesis as a natural source of learning and pleasure.

Symbol-theoretic representation

Goodman rejects resemblance as the basis of depiction and analyzes pictures as denoting symbols functioning within conventional symbol systems, with representation a species of reference.

Representation as make-believe

Walton argues that representational works are props in games of make-believe that prescribe imaginings, so that depicting is a matter of mandating what is fictionally the case.

History

Mimesis dominated thinking about art from antiquity through the Renaissance, with Plato's suspicion of imitation and Aristotle's defense of it framing the debate. The representational paradigm weakened with Romantic expressivism and finally with abstract art, but the philosophy of depiction revived in the twentieth century through Gombrich's psychology of pictorial perception, Goodman's symbol theory, and Walton's make-believe account, shifting the question from whether art is imitation to how depiction works.

Debates

Resemblance vs. convention in depiction

Whether pictorial representation rests on a natural resemblance between picture and subject or on learned conventions and symbol systems remains contested between perceptual and semiotic accounts.

Is representation essential to art?

Abstract and non-objective art appears to be art without representing anything, undermining mimetic theories as definitions even where they illuminate the representational arts.

Key figures

• Plato
• Aristotle
• Nelson Goodman
• Kendall Walton
• E. H. Gombrich

Seminal works

• aristotlePoetics
• goodman1968
• walton1990

Frequently asked questions

Why did Plato distrust artistic imitation?

Plato held that the world of appearances is already a copy of the eternal Forms, so an imitation of appearances is a copy of a copy, twice removed from reality, and he worried that mimetic poetry stirs the passions and misleads the soul.

Does representational theory still matter after abstract art?

As a definition of all art it fails, since abstract works represent nothing, but as a theory of how depiction works it remains central to the philosophy of pictures, fiction, and film.