Overview

This volume brings together essays by leading philosophers of art who consider what can be learned from the meaning of art about society, morality and life in general. This subject inevitably leads to discussion of other issues. Is art distinct from life? Is a concern with art's messages consistent with an appropriately aesthetic appreciation of its works? Is there anything distinctive about the manner in which art communicates its messages, or about the messages it conveys? The topic of art's social and moral importance has always been a central one in aesthetics. However, whereas Plato and Schiller, for instance, viewed art as intimately implicated in a person's moral and social education, modernist theories have argued for art's autonomy and separation from worldly matters. The essays presented here provide a contemporary perspective on this long-standing debate and reveal the recent revitalization of humanist concerns in describing art and its significance.

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9780271016832

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Reviews

If any one theme emerges from this [discussion] it is the resurgence of interest in and defense of humanistic concerns with art. Such a development is to be welcomed, and perhaps analytic aesthetics, given the way it has developed, is best placed to defend the distinctive and significant values of art. For such a defense is surely needed in the face of the critical sophistry and nihilism that threatens the humanities. --British Journal of Aesthetics

If any one theme emerges from this [discussion] it is the resurgence of interest in and defense of humanistic concerns with art. Such a development is to be welcomed, and perhaps analytic aesthetics, given the way it has developed, is best placed to defend the distinctive and significant values of art. For such a defense is surely needed in the face of the critical sophistry and nihilism that threatens the humanities. British Journal of Aesthetics

Author Information

Stephen Davies is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Auckland.

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