The Aesthetic Question
eBook - PDF

The Aesthetic Question

Experience, Judgement, Value

  1. 225 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Aesthetic Question

Experience, Judgement, Value

About this book

What is the nature and meaning of the 'aesthetic'? This question animates Jane Forsey's provocative dive into the foundations of philosophical aesthetics. The result is a compelling new theory of aesthetic experience that draws upon attention, judgement and value as central to our responses to the world we encounter.

We liberally apply 'aesthetic' to a wealth of experiences from horror movies, fashion and perfume to food, fine art and gardening. But underlying our use is a long-standing commitment to the centrality of pleasure. Forsey reveals why traditional aesthetic theories find it difficult to include experiences of the negative-the ugly, the fearsome, the grotesque, the banal- and exposes their inability to adequately reflect the multiplicity of ways we can experience the world.

Through an entertaining analysis of major themes and the latest debates around realism, value empiricism, and the everyday, Forsey argues that a connection to positive valuation severely restricts the kinds of things that can be counted as justifiably aesthetic. She introduces us to the notion of 'discordant aesthetics' and encourages us to incorporate experiences of ugliness, disorder and incoherence as legitimate forms of aesthetic engagement.

This is a call for the discipline to broaden its range and uncouple the aesthetic from its positive connotations. Forsey's fresh perspective on the fundamental question of 'what is the aesthetic?' shows us a more consistent, coherent way of articulating the experiences in our lives.

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Yes, you can access The Aesthetic Question by Jane Forsey in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Art Theory & Criticism. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. CONTENTS
  2. Preface
  3. Acknowledgements
  4. 1 Framing the Question
  5. 2 Aesthetic Attention
  6. Aesthetic Pleasure
  7. Aesthetic Attitude/Aesthetic Attention
  8. Disinterest
  9. Disinterest and Pleasure
  10. 3 Aesthetic Judgement
  11. Aesthetic Judgement
  12. Judgement and Pleasure
  13. Judgement and Disinterest
  14. 4 Aesthetic Value
  15. Verdictive and Substantive Values
  16. Value Empiricism
  17. 5 Aesthetic Experience
  18. Attention
  19. The Subject and Object
  20. Discordant Aesthetics
  21. Postscript
  22. Bibliography
  23. Index