RE: Worringer: Abstraction and Empathy

[Frances Kelly]

It occurred to me that the Worringer thesis as a global approach
considers only two main kinds of objects as artworks: (1) the
abstract; and (2) the natural. If however there were more kinds
of objects to consider as artworks, then the thesis might work
better. It could also then even be made consistent with the
tridential approach of Peircean pragmatism, which as a global
approach would hold that there are three main kinds of objects
with contents as artworks. The tern of art would thus be as: (1)
abstract with possible referents; or (2) concrete with actual
referents; or (3) discrete with agreeable referents. Each of
these three could be further divided into those that were: (1) a
formal icon of similarity; or (2) a causal index of contiguity;
or (3) a conventional symbol of arbitrarity. This would yield a
matrix of nine building blocks upon which to perhaps determine
objects as artworks. All that would remain is to use Peircean
"objective relativism" as the support philosophy, rather than
"subjective relativism" as Worringer wrongly does. 
-FCK