Philosophy: Aesthetics

Rediscovering Aestheticsbrings together prominent international voices from art history, philosophy, and artistic practice to discuss the current role of aesthetics within and across their disciplines.

Leading young scholars present a collection of wide-ranging essays covering central problems in meta-aesthetics and aesthetic issues in the philosophy of mind, as well as offering analyses of key aesthetic concepts, new perspectives on the history of aesthetics, and specialized treatment of individual art forms.

Aesthetics is the branch of philosophical thought that arises from deep 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.

Environmental aesthetics is an emerging field of study that focuses on nature's aesthetic value as well as on its ethical and environmental implications.

A seminal figure in the philosophy of history, culture, and language, Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) also produced some of the most important and original works in the history of aesthetic theory. A student of Kant, he spent much of his life striving to reconcile the opposing poles of Enlightenment thought represented by his early mentors.

A Return to Aestheticsconfronts postmodernism’s rejection of aesthetics by showing that this critique rests on central concepts of classical aesthetic theory, namely autonomous form, disinterest, and symbolic discourse.

Stecker (philosophy, Central Michigan U.) begins this introductory text for undergraduates by making a distinction between the overlapping fields of aesthetics and philosophy of art. He begins by examining the aesthetic appreciation of nature, and then the concepts of aesthetic experience & aesthetic properties.

The Blackwell Guide to Aesthetics is the most authoritative survey of the central issues in contemporary aesthetics available.

The Oxford Handbook of Aestheticsbrings the authority, liveliness, and multi-disciplinary scope of the Handbook series to a fascinating theme in philosophy and the arts.

Fenner (philosophy, U. of North Florida) presents an introduction to the Western tradition of aesthetics from the fourth century B.C.E. to the present.