James Hamilton's "The Art of Theater" is an outstanding contribution to aesthetics that fills an important gap, since treatments of theater have been much less frequent than those of other art forms. Moreover, the book's appearance requires aestheticians of many stripes to engage with questions about theater because it raises issues of ontology,…

In this article, the author considers Hamilton's idea of "basic understanding" of a theatrical performance. The author finds it hard to grasp this conception. He worries, although perhaps only on the basis of misunderstanding, that Hamilton's conception of the basic understanding of theatrical performances will not do the work he wants it to do as…

James Hamilton's "The Art of Theater" is a careful and imaginative scrutiny of the art of theater done at the very highest level. In this article, the author comments on a number of issues raised by Hamilton's work. These include: the definition of theatrical enactment; the place of pretending and imagining in theatrical performance; the nature of…

In this essay, Hamilton responds to criticisms of his book "The Art of Theater" (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007). Acknowledging that he expected that the central proposals in "The Art of Theater" would seem a little strange to philosophers, he reiterates his belief that the three general facts of any theatrical performance are its presentation, its…

One among the many virtues of James Hamilton's book, "The Art of Theater," is that it challenges the hegemony of the classical paradigm in the performing arts by questioning its applicability to theatrical performances. He argues instead for an "ingredients model" of the relationship between a literary script and a theatrical work. According to…

Examines the ways in which Jane Addams affected the field of creative drama. (PD)

Teachers, researchers, and performers in the field of Performance Studies often find themselves defining what it is that they do. Boundaries are often hard to draw, however. Is the work they are doing "art?" The distinction is important to funding agencies, tenure committees, and university administration. One definition of art…