Aesthetics: Key Concepts in Philosophy (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780826489197)

Aesthetics is the branch of philosophical thought that arises from engagement with the arts. It is about larger issues, such as meaning, identity, and medium, that arise in the exploration of art, music, film and literature. Aesthetics: Key Concepts in Philosophy offers a thorough, lucid and stimulating account of the central theories and ideas encountered in aesthetics. The text is thematically structured, covering the discipline's principal concepts: taste, aesthetic judgment, aesthetic experience and the definition of art. Ideal for students across the arts and humanities, the book stresses distinctively modern and contemporary problems, including the divergence between theories of aesthetics and theories of art and the problem of new media. Daniel Herwitz introduces students to aesthetic traditions, while also demonstrating their forward movement into the present. The book guides the reader through the work of philosophers who have engaged with aesthetics, including Hume, Kant, Hegel, Derrida, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein. It also provides an invaluable aid for philosophy undergraduates, introducing them to the history of aesthetics and stressing the importance of understanding the subject within its historical context.

Author: Daniel Alan Herwitz
ISBN-10: 0826489192
ISBN-13: 9780826489197
Publisher: Continnuum-3PL
Language: English
Published: 07/09/2008
Pages: 200
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.63lbs
Size: 7.86h x 6.20w x 0.69d