any good readings in the beginning aesthetics?

Use this forum to have philosophical discussions about aesthetics and art. What is art? What is beauty? What makes art good? You can also use this forum to discuss philosophy in the arts, namely to discuss the philosophical points in any particular movie, TV show, book or story.
Ookpark
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any good readings in the beginning aesthetics?

Post by Ookpark »

i have yet to find a model philosopher who is concentrating on the field of aesthetics.

any good writers who have some good opinions on what beauty is or what art is?

an art critic perhaps?

the popular the book is, better. makes it easier to find.


i just hope that you people are eager to answer me.

very well then, good rest of the day, gentlemen.
Alethia
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Post by Alethia »

Oh well. I was going to mention a couple, but clearly your comments are directed exclusively to the males on forum.

No worries

Carry on.
Ookpark
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Post by Ookpark »

Alethia wrote:Oh well. I was going to mention a couple, but clearly your comments are directed exclusively to the males on forum.

No worries

Carry on.

whoa sorry if there is any misunderstanding. i wrote this so hastely that i have forgotten to ask to the other sexes namely females... and are you reeealy offended by this? i mean sexism is obsolete.
Alethia
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Post by Alethia »

Ookpark wrote:
Alethia wrote:Oh well. I was going to mention a couple, but clearly your comments are directed exclusively to the males on forum.

No worries

Carry on.

whoa sorry if there is any misunderstanding. i wrote this so hastely that i have forgotten to ask to the other sexes namely females... and are you reeealy offended by this? i mean sexism is obsolete.
No no... I insist... Let the 'gentlemen' enlighten you. Your haste showed a taste for men... exclusively. I am merely the forgotten gender... that which haste has no mind for.

Please carry on.
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Stirling
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Post by Stirling »

Loosen up.

Read Aristotle's "Metaphysics," Hegel's "The Philosophy of Fine Art," Schopenhauers "The World as Will and Idea," Nietzsche's "The Birth of Tragedy" (lots of other stuff in his other books as well concerning aesthetics), Croce's "Aesthetics," Dewey's "Art as Experience," and Heidegger's "The Origin of the Work of Art" (best one).
"Live slow, die eventually, leave an indifferently attractive corpse. That's my motto." - David Mitchell

"By a sarcasm of law and phrase they were freemen." - Mark Twain
Alethia
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Post by Alethia »

Stirling wrote:Loosen up.
I am loosened up.
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wanabe
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Post by wanabe »

Alethia wrote:I am loosened up.
eeeeeeewwwwwwww.

In all seriousness though, How so?
Secret To Eternal Life: Live Life To The Fullest, Help All Others To Do So.Meaning of Life Is Choice. Increase choice through direct perception. Golden rule+universality principal+Promote benefits-harm+logical consistency=morality.BeTheChange.
Alethia
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Post by Alethia »

wanabe wrote:
Alethia wrote:I am loosened up.
eeeeeeewwwwwwww.

In all seriousness though, How so?
LOL...

All I'm doing is having a little fun at Ookpark's expense, because he dared to do what most men do, when not under the PC pump, and forget about their equally valid counterparts... females.

It's happening too in that thread on consent. Notice won't you, that a 12 year old boy's capacity to consent to sex with an adult female, is not under the microscope.

Sexism is alive and well and not obsolete as Ookpark would suggest. But I'm not offended by it... rather I'm accustomed to it.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Stirling
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Post by Stirling »

Didn't catch your sarcasm.
"Live slow, die eventually, leave an indifferently attractive corpse. That's my motto." - David Mitchell

"By a sarcasm of law and phrase they were freemen." - Mark Twain
Alethia
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Post by Alethia »

Stirling wrote:Didn't catch your sarcasm.
Probably because there wasn't any. Reality is reality... and if I poke fun at that reality, that does not make it any less real or my intent sarcastic.
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wanabe
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Post by wanabe »

How do you forget about the ladies, what the heck Ookpark, god. Worst wing-man ever!

its not a book but...http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/361_r1.html

I'll tell you right now though, its not a good book on aesthetics unless it has a preface telling you art is in the eye of the beholder; and each piece of art means something different to each individual... or some thing to that effect.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sexism is quite alive and well... As a woman Alethia, do you want equality with men, and/or their respect? Or maybe just the same pay for the same work? What are your gripes?
Secret To Eternal Life: Live Life To The Fullest, Help All Others To Do So.Meaning of Life Is Choice. Increase choice through direct perception. Golden rule+universality principal+Promote benefits-harm+logical consistency=morality.BeTheChange.
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Tex texas
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Re:

Post by Tex texas »

Stirling wrote:Loosen up.

Read Aristotle's "Metaphysics," Hegel's "The Philosophy of Fine Art," Schopenhauers "The World as Will and Idea," Nietzsche's "The Birth of Tragedy" (lots of other stuff in his other books as well concerning aesthetics), Croce's "Aesthetics," Dewey's "Art as Experience," and Heidegger's "The Origin of the Work of Art" (best one).

I'd add: "Aesthetic Theory," Theodor Adorno. And "Theory of the Novel," by Lukács. And, in the spirit of looseness, which I embrace fully, I should add that the elegant prose of these books provides a good concrete sanctuary if you get fatigued after wandering around in Heideggerian mists trying to get a glimpse of those peasant shoes.
dowhat1can
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Re: any good readings in the beginning aesthetics?

Post by dowhat1can »

Ookpark wrote:i have yet to find a model philosopher who is concentrating on the field of aesthetics. [A]ny good writers who have some good opinions on what beauty is or what art is? [A]n art critic perhaps?
You might try beginning with some of the short articles (5-15pp) from the online book Readings in the History of Æsthetics. (Scroll down the page for the Table of Contents.) This is the only set of readings in aesthetics I have found which are free, and most, I think, are pretty good.

I doubt that all of the these readings would count as philosophical, and the selections seem to me to include too many different kinds of artistic endeavors. Also, some are quirky. And there's virtually nothing on contemporary theories.

In any case, the following list covers the readings, some of which might be of interest.
Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Aquinas, Addison, Hutcheson, Voltaire, Hume, Reynolds, Burke, Kant, Schiler, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Mill, Spencer, Nietzsche, Morris, Tolstoy, Pater, Croce, Santayana, Bell, Freud, Jung, Alexander, Danto. The Danto reading is the same as suggested by wanabe above.

I haven't read all of these, but I found the readings by Reynolds, Nietzsche, Morris, Pater, Freud, Jung, and Bell the most interesting and perhaps a good start for lighter fare.

If you prefer reading in PDF text, the whole thing is also available as a free PDF book which I think can be downloaded for later reading.
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Insext
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Re: any good readings in the beginning aesthetics?

Post by Insext »

Try something like "After the End of Art" by Arthur C. Danto.
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Re: any good readings in the beginning aesthetics?

Post by Wowbagger »

I think that guy is pretty good on aesthetics: http://www.ted.com/talks/denis_dutton_a ... eauty.html

I like the evolutionary approach. If you just talk about beauty without considering it, the conversations seem to drift into stuff that sounds really sophisticated, but is in fact not saying anything.
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