Contemplating Art: Essays in AestheticsContemplating Art is a compendium of writings from the last ten years by one of the leading figures in aesthetics, Jerrold Levinson. The book contains twenty-four essays and is divided into seven parts. The first is about issues relating to art in general, not specific to one art form. The second and longest part of the book is about philosophical problems specific to music. The third part focuses on pictorial art, and the fourth on interpretation, in particular the interpretation of literature and literary language. In the remaining parts of the book Levinson discusses aesthetic properties, issues in historical aesthetics, humour, and intrinsic value. These lively essays, rigorous but accessible, will appeal not only to philosophers but also to musicologists, literary theorists, art critics, and reflective lovers of the arts. |
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aesthetic properties aesthetic realism Aesthetics and Art appearing appreciation arguably Art Criticism artforms artifact artistic value artmaking artworks beautiful character cinematic narrator claim cognitive color concept of art concerned constraints Cornell University Cornell University Press distinctive Elster emotion erotic art essay evaluative example experience fact fictional film music film’s frissons given Gregory Currie hear human Hume’s humor hypothetical intentionalism idea ideal critics imagine implied filmmaker incongruity intention intentional-historical interpretation intrinsic value involved Jerrold Levinson Journal of Aesthetics Kendall Walton least listeners Malcolm Budd matter meaning metaphor musical chills musical expressiveness musical gesture narrative nature Noël Carroll nondiegetic object one’s Oxford perceivers perception perhaps persona Philosophy pornography possible qualia question regard relation response Schopenhauer Schopenhauer’s seeing-in seems sense sexual simply sonata sort sounds specific Stephen Davies suggest supervenience theory things thought viewer virtue visual music Wollheim work’s