I'm trying to read Philosophy - Aesthetics. I've started with Paul Oskar Kristeller - The Modern System of the Arts.

I've only read the first 3 quarters of the article and only read once (I think I should go over it a couple of times - Philosophers seem to write as though they don't want anyone to understand what they are saying haha ;-) ).

He seems to basically say - Art didn't exist as we know it before around the 1700-1800's or so. Before that, people didn't think of it as art. "Art" as we know it, was divided up and grouped in with other disciplines.

Later - things like music, poetry and painting got grouped together into "art".

I also read that basically - people read his article and just assumed he was correct and so went along believing his work. More recently, his view is being challenged though.

Have I understood him correctly? Is my take on his article a fair one?