Alberto Argenton (2015), Is Arnheim just a formalist?
Gestalt Theory, 37(3), 219-234.
Summary
The claim often made against Arnheim that he is a formalist is a ridiculous criticism to make, as I will try to prove in the course of this article, after mentioning some of the theoretical assumptions that Arnheim makes.
Furthermore, in my opinion, such a criticism is a symptom of an underlying misunderstanding which, in various guises, is apparent in the works of numerous scholars, when they refer to, analyse, or evaluate the constituent constructs (and some of them in particular) of Arnheim’s theory.
Is Arnheim just a formalist?