What do you think?
Rate this book
Routledge Companions
The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics
The third edition of the acclaimed Routledge Companion to Aesthetics contains over sixty chapters written by leading international scholars covering all aspects of aesthetics.
This companion opens with an historical overview of aesthetics including entries on Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Adorno, Benjamin, Foucault, Goodman, and Wollheim. The second part covers the central concepts and theories of aesthetics, including the definitions of art, taste, the value of art, beauty, imagination, fiction, narrative, metaphor and pictorial representation. Part three is devoted to issues and challenges in aesthetics, including art and ethics, art and religion, creativity, environmental aesthetics and feminist aesthetics. The final part addresses the individual arts, including music, photography, film, videogames, literature, theater, dance, architecture and design.
With ten new entries, and revisions and updated suggestions for further reading throughout, The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics is essential for anyone interested in aesthetics, art, literature, and visual studies.
This companion opens with an historical overview of aesthetics including entries on Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Adorno, Benjamin, Foucault, Goodman, and Wollheim. The second part covers the central concepts and theories of aesthetics, including the definitions of art, taste, the value of art, beauty, imagination, fiction, narrative, metaphor and pictorial representation. Part three is devoted to issues and challenges in aesthetics, including art and ethics, art and religion, creativity, environmental aesthetics and feminist aesthetics. The final part addresses the individual arts, including music, photography, film, videogames, literature, theater, dance, architecture and design.
With ten new entries, and revisions and updated suggestions for further reading throughout, The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics is essential for anyone interested in aesthetics, art, literature, and visual studies.
- GenresPhilosophyArtNonfiction
705 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 12, 2000
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 24, 2014
I always find it hard to rate books such as these. The objective of reading this was to learn more about the Philosophy of Aesthetics. Due to the book succeeding in this, do I give it a 5?
Will give it a 5/5 because it did what I wanted, but on a 10 scale, it is a 9/10.
Now the review: If you're a beginner, and you want an overview of P of A, this is the place to start! Contains an overview of all the main philosophers who contributed, excellent list of references, and extra reading if you're interested. What more does one need?
I do recommend, however, you do not read this book and stop there. Having gotten a basis, I think it is wise if you delve into whatever area interests you. For me, it is/was "sublime"; hence Burke, Kant and the German idealists will be on my read list soon.
I really liked the chapters on defining art, what makes an art piece aesthetic. Don't overly agree with a lot of the referenced peoples' ideas. They diverge too far from Kant imo and don't really add anything. A lot seemed to be defending against other ideas, rather than formulating their own from their experiences et al. Refer to Schopenhauer for an essay on this!
All-in-all, I give it a 9/10
Will give it a 5/5 because it did what I wanted, but on a 10 scale, it is a 9/10.
Now the review: If you're a beginner, and you want an overview of P of A, this is the place to start! Contains an overview of all the main philosophers who contributed, excellent list of references, and extra reading if you're interested. What more does one need?
I do recommend, however, you do not read this book and stop there. Having gotten a basis, I think it is wise if you delve into whatever area interests you. For me, it is/was "sublime"; hence Burke, Kant and the German idealists will be on my read list soon.
I really liked the chapters on defining art, what makes an art piece aesthetic. Don't overly agree with a lot of the referenced peoples' ideas. They diverge too far from Kant imo and don't really add anything. A lot seemed to be defending against other ideas, rather than formulating their own from their experiences et al. Refer to Schopenhauer for an essay on this!
All-in-all, I give it a 9/10
April 12, 2009
This book was extremely helpful in my German Aesthetics module. Full of helpful and detailed essays about particular philosophers and aesthetics in general.
August 29, 2010
Very useful survey of aesthetics.
July 3, 2026
Published originally in 2000, this is a collection of 46 short and focused essays on specific topics within the area of Aesthetics.
The pieces focus on historical issues, with essays on Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, etc. They include specific issues within the area of Aesthetics, such as the concept of taste, beauty, value, etc. They include specific questions, such as issues raised by tragedy, horror, etc. And they focus on individual arts, such as film, music, photography (etc). Altogether, this is a comprehensive set of informative and thought provoking essays.
Generally, they were well written and well-focused. Sometimes with collections there is considerable variability, but in this case the editor did well to make sure that each essay properly covered its parameters.
Sometimes the language used in individual essays was less useful. For example on p.30 one of the contributors referred to how something has been ‘bruited.’ Is that really the most convenient verb for simply referring to an idea being conveyed?
Occasionally, there were also issues raised which there wasn’t room to fully explore. For example in chapter 30 there was a reference to ‘representational works’ with an explanation in brackets as ‘those with propositional content.’ But do all representation works necessarily have propositional content? Aren’t there controversies in philosophy about the extent to which information or knowledge can only be conveyed propositionally? There are some significant issues in the background of a comment like that, which ideally needs unpacking or at least signposting in a footnote.
Overall, however, I think this is a very helpful set of essays, which get readers quickly into the pertinent issues within aesthetics. The essays do not generally presuppose specialist philosophical (or aesthetic) background knowledge so they are accessible to readers without prior knowledge within the area.
The pieces focus on historical issues, with essays on Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, etc. They include specific issues within the area of Aesthetics, such as the concept of taste, beauty, value, etc. They include specific questions, such as issues raised by tragedy, horror, etc. And they focus on individual arts, such as film, music, photography (etc). Altogether, this is a comprehensive set of informative and thought provoking essays.
Generally, they were well written and well-focused. Sometimes with collections there is considerable variability, but in this case the editor did well to make sure that each essay properly covered its parameters.
Sometimes the language used in individual essays was less useful. For example on p.30 one of the contributors referred to how something has been ‘bruited.’ Is that really the most convenient verb for simply referring to an idea being conveyed?
Occasionally, there were also issues raised which there wasn’t room to fully explore. For example in chapter 30 there was a reference to ‘representational works’ with an explanation in brackets as ‘those with propositional content.’ But do all representation works necessarily have propositional content? Aren’t there controversies in philosophy about the extent to which information or knowledge can only be conveyed propositionally? There are some significant issues in the background of a comment like that, which ideally needs unpacking or at least signposting in a footnote.
Overall, however, I think this is a very helpful set of essays, which get readers quickly into the pertinent issues within aesthetics. The essays do not generally presuppose specialist philosophical (or aesthetic) background knowledge so they are accessible to readers without prior knowledge within the area.
Read
March 2, 2024I did not read the whole book, just an essay or two from the beginning. Good intro to the philosophy of aesthetics.
***
Ch 1 - Plato
Art should be edifying above all else (censoring out anything untoward in Homer)
Poets as practitioners of mimesis do not achieve or represent genuine knowledge
Poetry corrupts and should be banned in the ideal City
"[the Form of] beauty (kalon) is love's highest object" and is eternal, unchanging, and divine, only accessible by the intellect
Capital-b Beauty is associated with truth, wisdom, and virtue
The poet may be divinely inspired but Plato ranks them lower than the philosopher-lover (eros).
Also reincarnation?
***
Ch 1 - Plato
Art should be edifying above all else (censoring out anything untoward in Homer)
Poets as practitioners of mimesis do not achieve or represent genuine knowledge
Poetry corrupts and should be banned in the ideal City
"[the Form of] beauty (kalon) is love's highest object" and is eternal, unchanging, and divine, only accessible by the intellect
Capital-b Beauty is associated with truth, wisdom, and virtue
The poet may be divinely inspired but Plato ranks them lower than the philosopher-lover (eros).
Also reincarnation?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews