A Companion to Aesthetics (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy)

Questions about the nature of beauty and the relation between morality and art were among the earliest discussed by ancient philosophers. And today, a host of new issues has been prompted by recent developments in the arts and in philosophy, testifying to a great revival of interest in aesthetics and literary criticism. The nature of representation, the relation between art and truth, and the criteria for interpretation are among the most debated problems in contemporary philosophy.

This reference series, centred on analytic philosophy but also covering important aspects of the continental tradition and of non-Western philosophies, is made up of a number of volumes each dealing with a particular subject area. Taken together the series offers a comprehensive survey of philosophy as a whole. The entries in each volume combine summarized information on names, terms and moverments and each essay is also supported by a selective bibliography.

Alphabetically arranged, the 130 articles in this volume provide comprehensive coverage of the main topics and writers in this area of aesthetics. The Companion will serve students of philosophy, literary criticism and cultural studies - as well as the general reader - both as a work of reference and, with its many substantial essays, as a guide to the best thinking about the arts in the late twentieth century.

This volume encompasses the whole field of aesthetic topics. Its 130 articles document new directions of enquiry, as well as traditional topics such as catharsis and the sublime. It surveys the most significant concepts, problems, movements and authors in the philosophy of art.

Taken together the series offers a comprehensive survey of philosophy as a whole. The entries in each volume combine summarized information on names, terms and movements and each essay is also supported by a selective bibliography.

This reference series, centred on analytic philosophy but also covering important aspects of the continental tradition and of non-Western philosophies, is made up of a number of volumes each dealing with a particular subject area. Taken together the series offers a comprehensive survey of philosophy as a whole. The entries in each volume combine summarized information on names, terms and moverments and each essay is also supported by a selective bibliography.

In this extensively revised and updated edition, 168 alphabetically arranged articles provide comprehensive treatment of the main topics and writers in this area of aesthetics.

• Written by prominent scholars covering a wide-range of key topics in aesthetics and the philosophy of art
• Features revised and expanded entries from the first edition, as well as new chapters on recent developments in aesthetics and a larger number of essays on non-Western thought about art
• Unique to this edition are six overview essays on the history of aesthetics in the West from antiquity to modern times

David E. Cooper is Professor of Philosophy at Durham University.

Joseph Margolis is Professor of Philosophy at Temple University.

Crispin Sartwell is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama.

Introduction.

List of Contributors.

A Companion to Aesthetics.

Index.