Originality in art and other artifacts: an etiological-ecological approach

Abstract This paper proposes an account of artifact function that applies equally to artworks, everyday artifacts, and highly specialized technical artifacts. This unified account of artifact function centers on the notion of proper function and combines reproduction history (etiology) with careful attention to an artifact’s cultural niche (ecology). I explain an etiological-ecological account of proper function and demonstrate its centrality to long-standing art historical methodology. One thing that an etiological-ecological account would seem unable to account for is artifacts considered highly original. I argue, however, that an etiological-ecological account can in fact account for originality and, further, that an etiological-ecological account actually leads to a better understanding of originality than other accounts. I make this case by considering examples from the discipline of art history.