Art in the Social Order: The Making of the Modern Conception of Art

Art in the Social Order makes a compelling case for the need to develop a properly historical approach to art. Preben Mortensen seeks to replace the dominant approaches to the question of the nature of art in contemporary English-speaking (analytic) philosophy with a historicist approach that emphasizes localized, cultural-historical narratives.

For the first time, a historical examination of the origin of our ideas of art are related to questions in contemporary art theory. Mortensen shows that our conception of art emerged in the eighteenth century as part of new ideas of edification and of the presentation of the self. He examines the complex social and cultural context in which our ideas of art emerge in the eighteenth century. In a context of social, political, and cultural changes, knowledge about art and the display of taste come to indicate social distinctions and replace older notions of birth and rank. Mortensen connects these historical developments to contemporary discussions about the relationship between high art and popular art.