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A History of Modern Aesthetics narrates the history of philosophical aesthetics from the beginning of the eighteenth century through the twentieth century. Aesthetics began with Aristotle's defense of the cognitive value of tragedy in response to Plato's famous attack on the arts in The Republic, and cognitivist accounts of aesthetic experience have been central to the field ever since. But in the eighteenth century, two new ideas were introduced: that aesthetic experience is important because of emotional impact - precisely what Plato criticized - and because it is a pleasurable free play of many or all of our mental powers. This set tells how these ideas have been synthesized or separated by aestheticians of modern times. This second volume tells how over the course of the century philosophers in Germany, Britain, and eventually the United States struggled to return to a broader approach to the value of aesthetic experience by finding room for the emotional and playful aspects of art.
The most comprehensive history of aesthetics in more than half a century, and the first focusing on the modern period
Offers both biographical information and extensive interpretation not only of the best-known figures in the field but also of many now less well-known but fascinating thinkers
Illustrates its discussion with ample quotation, often providing the first English translation of passages from important works in aesthetics in German, Latin, and French
Part I. German Aesthetics in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century:
1. Early Romanticism and idealism
2. In the shadow of Schelling
3. The high tide of idealism
4. In the wake of Hegel
Part II. (Mostly) British Aesthetics in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century:
5. Ruskin
6. Aestheticism
7. Bosanquet and Tolstoy
Part III. German Aesthetics in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century:
8. In the shadow of Schopenhauer
9. Neo-Kantian aesthetics
10. Psychological aesthetics: play and empathy.
Description
A History of Modern Aesthetics narrates the history of philosophical aesthetics from the beginning of the eighteenth century through the twentieth century. Aesthetics began with Aristotle's defense of the cognitive value of tragedy in response to Plato's famous attack on the arts in The Republic, and cognitivist accounts of aesthetic experience have been central to the field ever since. But in the eighteenth century, two new ideas were introduced: that aesthetic experience is important because of emotional impact - precisely what Plato criticized - and because it is a pleasurable free play of many or all of our mental powers. This set tells how these ideas have been synthesized or separated by aestheticians of modern times. This second volume tells how over the course of the century philosophers in Germany, Britain, and eventually the United States struggled to return to a broader approach to the value of aesthetic experience by finding room for the emotional and playful aspects of art.
The most comprehensive history of aesthetics in more than half a century, and the first focusing on the modern period
Offers both biographical information and extensive interpretation not only of the best-known figures in the field but also of many now less well-known but fascinating thinkers
Illustrates its discussion with ample quotation, often providing the first English translation of passages from important works in aesthetics in German, Latin, and French
