Art Recollection

by Noel Carroll

Undoubtedly, as the discussions about how to commemorate the events of 9/11 have shown, we need to think seriously about memorial art — those statues whose often forgotten heroes molder in public parks and town squares everywhere. But perhaps that neglect is no more pronounced in any relevant domain of inquiry than it is in the philosophy of art, since memorial art is art expressly designed to perform cultural functions and there remains in modem aesthetics a strong tendency to withhold the title of art, properly so called, from works noteworthy for their social utility Such art is, for a great many aestheticians, below their theoretical radar screen.