Definition by Example

On her blog, Katie asked: "Is this the way we should define or pin down art as well, use examples, compare new art to old art?"

Using examples to define art seems to be an easy solution. Rather than struggling to find just the right words, all we have to do is make comparisons to already established art. Actually, we've already consider this approach in class. Morris Weitz suggested the same thing. Rather than give a solid definition, Weitz found art by identifying similarities between a candidate and existing pieces of art. Now, if memory serves, we had some problems with Weitz's theory. It's a bit too inclusive. For example, Andy Warhol's Brillo Box is art. Now, since an actual Brillo box is visually similar, it should be art as well, but it isn't. Therefore, only some aspects of a work of art make it art and only pieces that share these particular aspects are also art. So, I think that we could use examples to define art, but we must be specific about which quality of the piece we want to exemplify.

If you had to create a definition of art from examples, which works, and qualities of those works, would you choose?