يتناول هذاالكتاب بعض القضايا الرئيسة في مسألة الثقافة، وتاريخها، وعلاقتها بالنظام العام، والتربية والتعليم والاقتصاد، كما يتناول علاقة الفنان (وهو منتج الثقافة) بالمجتمع، ونظام الرعاية والتفرغ، وبغيره من الفنانين.
Sir Herbert Edward Read, (December 4, 1893 - June 12, 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education.
Politically, Read considered himself an anarchist, albeit in the English quietist tradition of Edward Carpenter and William Morris. Read was co-founder of the Institute of Contemporary Art & the publisher and editor-in-chief of Jung's collected works in English.
On 11 November 1985, Read was among 16 Great War poets commemorated on a slate stone unveiled in Westminster Abbey's Poet's Corner.
He was the father of the well-known writer Piers Paul Read, the BBC documentary maker John Read, the BBC producer and executive Tom Read, and the art historian Ben Read.
I think he means that a radically democratic society is necessary so that ordinary people can work together to produce a material culture that doesn't suck. He kind of flips it, because usually the radically democratic society is the goal and art and education are ways to that goal but he has it all chicken-and-egged with education through art at the foundation of his edifice. Unfortunately, he builds on a lot of arguments from people like Sigmund Freud and Eric Gill, arguments that might have not always stood the test of time. Also, some of the essays are reactions to stuffy old Englishmen on the wrong side of history who are largely forgotten and that only adds to the feeling of dated-ness. Still, I think his point is worth reflecting on and maybe someone today could put it better or more universally than Read was able to.
Mostly brilliant - it all felt surprisingly modern and relevant, aside from 'The Problem of Pornography', which seems outdated even for the 60s. Lots of ideas about art and the world and politics swimming around at the moment. Overwhelmed. :)
A good overview of Read's philosophy of art, itself a series of small corrections to the aesthetics of Eric Gill (as Read cites) and Jacques Maritain (unmentioned here). It makes for a surprisingly easy read since Read is more practical minded than Gill and more concrete than Maritain.