Noël Carroll Voted 6th Most Important Philosopher of Art Post-1945
Brian Leiter, on his popular blog Leiter Reports, recently conducted a survey about philosophers of art post-1945, and CUNY Graduate Center Philosophy Program Distinguished Professor Noël Carroll was voted to be sixth. Full results and commentary from Leiter Reports are below.
Best Anglophone philosophers of art post-1945: the result
So with not quite 170 votes–and please remind yourself of both the rules for inclusion and the omissions–here is “the top 25”
| 1. Arthur Danto (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices) |
| 2. Nelson Goodman loses to Arthur Danto by 68–42 |
| 3. Richard Wollheim loses to Arthur Danto by 77–34, loses to Nelson Goodman by 60–45 |
| 4. Stanley Cavell loses to Arthur Danto by 79–35, loses to Richard Wollheim by 53–51 |
| 5. Kendall Walton loses to Arthur Danto by 78–32, loses to Stanley Cavell by 57–46 |
| 6. Noel Carroll loses to Arthur Danto by 89–17, loses to Kendall Walton by 48–34 |
| 7. Jerrold Levinson loses to Arthur Danto by 86–22, loses to Noel Carroll by 41–37 |
| 8. Monroe Beardsley loses to Arthur Danto by 91–16, loses to Jerrold Levinson by 40–39 |
| 9. Peter Kivy loses to Arthur Danto by 91–14, loses to Monroe Beardsley by 45–34 |
| 10. Roger Scruton loses to Arthur Danto by 92–17, loses to Peter Kivy by 46–41 |
| 11. Malcolm Budd loses to Arthur Danto by 89–15, loses to Roger Scruton by 41–34 |
| 12. George Dickie loses to Arthur Danto by 95–8, loses to Malcolm Budd by 40–29 |
| 13. Gregory Currie loses to Arthur Danto by 97–10, loses to George Dickie by 33–29 |
| 14. Ted Cohen loses to Arthur Danto by 94–14, loses to Gregory Currie by 36–28 |
| 15. Paul Guyer loses to Arthur Danto by 101–7, loses to Ted Cohen by 36–24 |
| 16. Alexander Nehamas loses to Arthur Danto by 95–10, loses to Paul Guyer by 34–33 |
| 17. David Davies loses to Arthur Danto by 98–8, loses to Alexander Nehamas by 40–29 |
| 18. Susanne Langer loses to Arthur Danto by 93–7, loses to Alexander Nehamas by 40–26 |
| 19. Peter Lamarque loses to Arthur Danto by 98–7, loses to Alexander Nehamas by 35–31 |
| 20. Joseph Margolis loses to Arthur Danto by 92–10, loses to Peter Lamarque by 29–28 |
| 21. Frank Sibley loses to Arthur Danto by 94–10, loses to Peter Lamarque by 27–26 |
| 22. Stephen Davies loses to Arthur Danto by 96–8, loses to Frank Sibley by 30–22 |
| 23. Catherine Elgin loses to Arthur Danto by 94–8, loses to Stephen Davies by 30–22 |
| 24. Mary Mothersill loses to Arthur Danto by 97–6, loses to Catherine Elgin by 28–23 |
| 25. Jenefer Robinson loses to Arthur Danto by 97–6, loses to Mary Mothersill by 26–18 |
I list the “top 25” for two reasons: almost all those ranked 21-25 were in the top 20 at some point; and there was a very late surge for Joseph Margolis, based on what looked a bit like attempted strategic voting. I know that for a certain kind of philosopher of art the idea that Danto would come out ahead of Walton will seem bizarre, but the top five certainly looks plausible to an amateur like me (even if the ordinal order does not), as does the rest of the top 25, though the ordinal ranking perhaps less so (I would have thought, again as an amateur, that Budd and Robinson, for example, would come out even higher). Thoughts from more knowledgeable readers?
