Contemporary Debates In Aesthetics And The Philosophy Of Art

Contemporary Debates in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art features pairs of newly commissioned essays by some of the leading theorists working in the field today.

• Brings together fresh debates on eleven of the most controversial issues in aesthetics and the philosophy of art


• Topics addressed include the nature of beauty, aesthetic experience, artistic value, and the nature of our emotional responses to art.


• Each question is treated by a pair of opposing essays written by eminent scholars, and especially commissioned for the volume.


• Lively debate format sharply defines the issues, and paves the way for further discussion.


• Will serve as an accessible introduction to the major topics in aesthetics, while also capturing the imagination of professional philosophers

Matthew Kieran is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Leeds. He is author of Media Ethics: A Philosophical Approach (1997) and Revealing Art (2005), and editor of Media Ethics (1998) and Imagination, Philosophy and the Arts (with Dominic Lopes, 2003).

Acknowledgments.

Notes on Contributors.

Introduction: A Conceptual Map of Issues in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art (Matthew Kieran).

HOW ARE ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE AND VALUE INTER-RELATED?.

1. Aesthetic Empiricism and the Challenge of Fakes and Ready-mades (Gordon Graham).

2. Against Enlightened Empiricism (David Davies).

References and Suggested Reading.

IN WHAT DOES TRUE BEAUTY CONSIST?.

3. Beauty and Ugliness in and out of Context (Marcia Muelder Eaton).

4. Terrible Beauties (Carolyn Korsmeyer).

References and Suggested Reading.

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE?.

5. Aesthetic Experience: A Question of Content (Noel Carroll).

6. The Aesthetic State of Mind (Gary Iseminger).

References and Suggested Reading.

SHOULD WE VALUE WORKS AS ART FOR WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THEM?.

7. Art and Cognition (Berys Gaut).

8. Cognitive Values in the Arts: Marking the Boundaries (Peter Lamarque).

References.

HOW DO PICTURES REPRESENT?.

9. The Speaking Image: Visual Communication and the Nature of Depiction (Robert Hopkins).

10. The Domain of Depiction (Dominic McIver Lopes).

References and Suggested Reading.

WHAT CONSTITUTES ARTISTIC EXPRESSION?.

11. Artistic Expression and the Hard Case of Pure Music (Stephen Davies).

12. Musical Expressiveness as Hearability-as-Expression (Jerrold Levinson).

References and Suggested Reading.

IN WHAT WAYS IS THE IMAGINATION INVOLVED IN ENGAGING WITH ARTWORKS?.

13. Anne Bronte and the Uses of Imagination (Gregory Currie).

14. Imagine That! (Jonathan M. Weinberg and Aaron Meskin).

References and Suggested Reading.

CAN EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO FICTION BE GENUINE AND RATIONAL?.

15. Genuine Rational Fictional Emotions (Tamar Szabo Gendler and Karson Kovakovich).

16. The Challenge of Irrationalism and How Not To Meet It (Derek Matravers).

References and Suggested Reading.

IS ARTISTIC INTENTION RELEVANT TO THE INTERPRETATION OF ART WORKS?.

17. Interpretation and the Problem of the Relevant Intention (Robert Stecker).

18. Art, Meaning, and Artist's Meaning (Daniel O. Nathan).

References and Suggested Reading.

ARE THERE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF EVALUATION?.

19. There are no Aesthetic Principles (Alan H. Goldman).

20. Iron, Leather and Critical Principles (George Dickie).

References and Suggested Reading.

WHAT ARE THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE MORAL AND AESTHETIC VALUES OF ART?.

21. Artistic Value and Opportunistic Moralism (Eileen John).

22. Ethical Criticism and The Vice of Moderation (Daniel Jacobson).

References and Suggested Reading.

Index.