The Concept of the Beautiful

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Aesthetics, Mind & Body
Cover of the book The Concept of the Beautiful by Agnes Heller, Lexington Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Agnes Heller ISBN: 9780739170489
Publisher: Lexington Books Publication: February 1, 2012
Imprint: Lexington Books Language: English
Author: Agnes Heller
ISBN: 9780739170489
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication: February 1, 2012
Imprint: Lexington Books
Language: English

The main purpose of this book is to explicate the problematic relationship between the heterogeneity of what is experienced as beautiful and the homogeneity of the conceptualization of that experience, or attempt at such a conceptualization in the era of modern philosophy. While the heterogeneity of what is experienced as beautiful was permitted, and indeed celebrated, in the dominant ancient conception—for example, in the Symposium and Phaedrus of Plato—the need for homogenization in the later appropriation of Plato and in the Enlightenment period relegated the beautiful to the privileged domain of artworks. In her analysis Agnes Heller provides a unique and significant emphasis on the original 'life content' of the experience of the beautiful, which becomes lost in the modern system of the arts.

This book details the history of the concept of the beautiful, starting with what Agnes Heller distinguishes between the 'warm' metaphysics of beauty and the 'cold' one—inspired by Plato's Janus-faced relationship to beauty—and ending with a fragmented yet hopeful vision propagated by Friedrich Nietzsche, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno, among others. In between these two historical parentheses—the metaphysical Plato on one hand and the post-metaphysical Nietzsche, Benjamin, and Adorno on the other hand—lay a plenitude of figures and intellectual developments, all of which contributed to the demise of the concept of the beautiful in the Western metaphysical tradition. The most important of these figures and developments are examined in this book.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The main purpose of this book is to explicate the problematic relationship between the heterogeneity of what is experienced as beautiful and the homogeneity of the conceptualization of that experience, or attempt at such a conceptualization in the era of modern philosophy. While the heterogeneity of what is experienced as beautiful was permitted, and indeed celebrated, in the dominant ancient conception—for example, in the Symposium and Phaedrus of Plato—the need for homogenization in the later appropriation of Plato and in the Enlightenment period relegated the beautiful to the privileged domain of artworks. In her analysis Agnes Heller provides a unique and significant emphasis on the original 'life content' of the experience of the beautiful, which becomes lost in the modern system of the arts.

This book details the history of the concept of the beautiful, starting with what Agnes Heller distinguishes between the 'warm' metaphysics of beauty and the 'cold' one—inspired by Plato's Janus-faced relationship to beauty—and ending with a fragmented yet hopeful vision propagated by Friedrich Nietzsche, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno, among others. In between these two historical parentheses—the metaphysical Plato on one hand and the post-metaphysical Nietzsche, Benjamin, and Adorno on the other hand—lay a plenitude of figures and intellectual developments, all of which contributed to the demise of the concept of the beautiful in the Western metaphysical tradition. The most important of these figures and developments are examined in this book.

More books from Lexington Books

Cover of the book Ecological Entanglements in the Anthropocene by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book Truth, Community, and the Prophetic Voice by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book Twentieth-Century Influences on Twenty-First-Century Policing by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book Picturing China in the American Press by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book Perspectives on the Entangled History of Communism and Nazism by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book Nationalism and Identity Construction in Central Asia by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book Religious Vitality in Christian Intentional Communities by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book Nietzschean Psychology and Psychotherapy by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book The Grand Strategy that Won the Cold War by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book An Institutional Framework for Policymaking by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book Strategic Intelligence–Community Security Partnerships by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book The Dissolution of the Financial State by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book Gender and Power Relations in Nigeria by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book The Harvard-Yenching Institute and Cultural Engineering by Agnes Heller
Cover of the book F.C.S. Schiller and the Dawn of Pragmatism by Agnes Heller
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy