{"product_id":"strange-tools-alva-no-9780809089161","title":"Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA philosopher makes the case for thinking of works of art as tools for investigating ourselves\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eStrange Tools: Art and Human Nature\u003c\/i\u003e, the philosopher and cognitive scientist Alva Noë argues that our obsession with works of art has gotten in the way of understanding how art works \u003ci\u003eon \u003c\/i\u003eus. For Noë, art isn't a phenomenon in need of an explanation but a mode of research, a method of investigating what makes us human--a strange tool. Art isn't just something to look at or listen to--it is a challenge, a dare to try to make sense of what it is all about. Art aims not for satisfaction but for confrontation, intervention, and subversion. Through diverse and provocative examples from the history of art-making, Noë reveals the transformative power of artistic production. By staging a dance, choreographers cast light on the way bodily movement organizes us. Painting goes beyond depiction and representation to call into question the role of pictures in our lives. Accordingly, we cannot reduce art to some natural aesthetic sense or trigger; recent efforts to frame questions of art in terms of neurobiology and evolutionary theory alone are doomed to fail. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy engaging with art, we are able to study ourselves in profoundly novel ways. In fact, art and philosophy have much more in common than we might think. Reframing the conversation around artists and their craft, \u003ci\u003eStrange Tools \u003c\/i\u003eis a daring and stimulating intervention in contemporary thought.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Alva Noë\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0809089165\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780809089161\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Farrar, Strauss \u0026amp; Giroux-3pl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/27\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.99lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.68d","brand":"Alva Noë","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44043052679423,"sku":"9780809089161","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_09158f85-10ec-44f0-bdb3-c1d21cb7c4f4.jpg?v=1684964993","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/strange-tools-alva-no-9780809089161","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}