Music, Film, and Art by Haig Khatchadourian (review)

of his travels through Turkey, Greece and Braithwaite-had discussed the logical or ‘Literary Critic’. Now that his Italy, of visits to all the major European puzzles involved in our talk about, say, bestselling novel, The Name ofthe Rose, capitals after the First World War, and of the exposure of the developing architect to all the avant-garde indulgences, particularly in the arts. Later developments in his style and thinking till his death in 1965 are the concerns of the other two parts. There are over 240 illustrations, 31 of which are in colour. These illustrations have been chosen with care;asan integral part of the text they do much to enhance pleasure and understanding . Of particular interest are the seminalsketchesfor manyof LeCorbusier’s projects. This book is immensely impressive in its clarity and depth of thought. The writing is of high quality, and Curtis’s sympathetic understanding of the subject makes it a worthy addition to the outstanding work Modern Architecture since 1900 by the same author. Le Corbusier was a great synthesisinggenius who left a valuable and vast legacy of forms, ideas, images and plans for cities of the future. He altered the basis of architectural discourse and, as Walter Gropius suggests, Le Corbusier created “a new scale of values sufficiently profound to enrich generations to come”. Le Corbusier is part of historical tradition and the universality of his art is of more importance than the modernity of his concepts. To read Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms, to echo Gropius, is an enriching experience. MUSIC, FILM, AND ART by Haig Khatchadourian. Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, New York, 1985. 222 pp. Paper, $12.00; Cloth, $50.00. ISBN: 0275-5866; ISBN 2-88124-024-0. Reviewed by Elmer H. Duncan, Department of Philosophy, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, U.S.A. Mr. Pickwick. How can our talk be about Mr. Pickwick, when there does not-and never did-exist any such person as Pickwick for it t o be about? Khatchadourian’s response is technical, but the essential point is that the sentences that occur in a work of fiction are not simply fictitious, i.e. simply false; they have a special logic. Many of the essays are devoted to the sortsof topics aestheticians have discussed over the past 20-30 years, and the author seems to owe much to such writers as Frank Sibley and Morris Weitz. One such topic issimply,“What isart?” How do we know somethingis art? Apparently, some recent aestheticians (George Dickie?) would say that anything is art if anyone says it is. But, more in the spirit of Weitz, Khatchadourian refuses to be so permissive . Like Weitz, he suggests that an object should be considered art if it has a sufficient number of characteristics in common with recognized paradigm cases of artworks. But there are problems. How many characteristics are enough, and which of the work’s many qualities are relevant? More important, perhaps, if tradition is thus followed, is there no place for originality? Aye, there’s the rub.. .: “there is no general rule for resolving the essential tension between the demands of tradition and the demands of creativity ...” (p. 183). Finally, Khatchadourian is at his best arguing that “all persons have a right to self-actualization ... . this includes the artist’s right freely to create ...” (p. 188), and is setting forth the values of artistic creation (ch. 13,“The Need for Art in the Modern World”). The interested reader will find many of these same topics discussed in greater detail in Khatchadourian’s earlier work, The ConceptofArt(NewYork: New York University Press, 197I). This book is made up of 13 essays on topics in aesthetics, the essays having been published previously in various journals from 1966 to 1980. The essays are wide ranging. Some have technical subjects, e.g. “The Identity of a Work of Music” and “Movement and Action in Film”. Others, e.g. “The Need for Art in the Modern World”, clearly are intended for more general audiences. One of the more interesting essays is also the earliest, “About Imaginary Objects”, first published in Ratio in 1966. In a symposium held in 1933,three major philosophers-Ryle, Moore and...