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Basic Issues in Aesthetics

Marcia Muelder Eaton

The aesthetic is an important part of human experience. Our responses to music or mountains are not merely leisure time activities; they give meaning to life. Philosophical aesthetics attracts people from different areas of interest including philosophy, art history, music, and theater. In this concise, well-written book, Eaton clearly speaks to readers of varied backgrounds, bringing this mixed audience to a point where they can share their special insights with one another. Presented so that even complex issues in aesthetics are accessible to novices, the volume is organized around the components of an aesthetic situation.
 

$19.95 list, 154 pages

10-digit ISBN: 1-57766-034-X

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57766-034-7

1. Defining the Issues: An Overview

Defining ‘Beauty’, ‘Art’, and ‘Aesthetic’ / Aesthetic Theories / The Possibility of Aesthetic Theories / Aesthetic Judgments and Policies

2. Artist-Centered Aesthetic Issues

Creating Art / Artistic Intentions / Artistic Expression / Irrationality / Expression Theories of Art / Expression of Ideas

3. Viewer-Centered Aesthetic Issues

Special Faculties / Taste / The Viewer’s Emotion / Special Operations / Ordinary and Extraordinary Emotional Responses / Special Attitudes / The Role of Thought in Aesthetic Response / Special Focus

4. Art and Language

Language in Non-Literary Arts / Linguistic Features of Art / Gombrich’s Theory of Representation / Goodman’s View of Representation / Art and Truth / Truth and Fiction / Truth in Visual Art / Truth in Music

5. Aesthetic and Artistic Objects and Their Contexts

The Ontological Status of Works of Art / Formalism / Contextualism / The Role of Tradition and History / Historical and Artistic Categories / The Role of Institutions / Dickie’s Institutional Theory of Art / Danto’s Theory of Art in an Artworld / Eaton’s Theory of Art Within Tradition / Structuralism and Deconstruction

6. Interpretation and Criticism

The Nature of Interpretation / A Puzzling Case / Good and Correct Interpretations / The Lack of Facts / The Possibility of Objectivity / Separating Interpretation and Criticism / The Nature of Criticism / How Can Criticism Help? / Reasons in Criticism / Transferring Critical Judgments / Criticism as a Report of Feelings / Criticism as Pointing and Inviting

7. Aesthetic Value

Inherent Aesthetic Value / Consequential Theories / Ethical and Aesthetic Value / Truth and Aesthetic Value / Applied Aesthetics / Art and Public Policy / Environmental Aesthetics / A Proposed Definition