Philosophy: aesthetics Books

1771 products


  • The Usefulness of the Useless

    Paul Dry Books, Inc The Usefulness of the Useless

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £15.29

  • Kandinsky: Incarnating Beauty

    David Zwirner Kandinsky: Incarnating Beauty

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisA teacher to Jacques Lacan, André Breton, and Albert Camus, Kojève defined art as the act of extracting the beautiful from objective reality. His poetic text, “The Concrete Paintings of Kandinsky,” endorses nonrepresentational art as uniquely manifesting beauty. Taking the paintings of his renowned uncle, Wassily Kandinsky, as his inspiration, Kojève suggests that in creating (rather than replicating) beauty, the paintings are themselves complete universes as concrete as the natural world. Kojève’s text considers the utility and necessity of beauty in life, and ultimately poses the involuted question: What is beauty? Including personal letters between Kandinsky and his nephew, this book further elaborates the unique relationship between artist and philosopher. An introduction by Boris Groys contextualizes Kojève’s life and writings.

    2 in stock

    £10.40

  • Philosophical Posthumanism

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Philosophical Posthumanism

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe notion of the human' is in need of urgent redefinition. At a time of radical bio-technological developments, and in light of the political and environmental imperatives of our age, the term posthuman' provides an alternative. The philosophical landscape which has developed as a response to the crisis of the human, includes several movements, such as: Posthumanism, Transhumanism, Antihumanism and Object Oriented Ontology. This book explains the similarities and differences between these currents and offers a detailed examination of a number of topics that fall under the posthuman umbrella, including the anthropocene, artificial intelligence and the deconstruction of the human. Francesca Ferrando affords particular focus to Philosophical Posthumanism, defined as a philosophy of mediation which addresses the meaning of humanity not in separation, but in relation to technology and ecology. The posthuman shift thus emerges in the global call for social change, responsTrade ReviewFerrando skillfully disentangles the umbrella term “posthumanism” and offers original thought experiments concerning a posthuman future ... As such, Philosophical Posthumanism is well-suited to audiences who are new to posthuman theory, but it also provides original critical material that will interest readers familiar with the field of posthumanism. * A Review of International English Literature *A generous and creative work ... the most distinguishing feature of Philosophical Posthumanism is its author’s vision towards a better future. * Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture *Philosophical Posthumanism is exemplary in its lucid survey of the major thinkers, theories and concepts … The navigational questions make this book especially useful for those teaching introductory courses on posthumanist theory, or for anyone looking for an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the field. * Symposium *Ferrando has written a philosophically original inquiry that addresses the formidable questions our time has given rise to that may rekindle hope in the power of critical thinking—that thinking gets somewhere—even in transcending itself, in all but the most despairing. * Philosophy in Review *[An] exceptional and exemplary primer on the subject … [One] cannot overestimate the importance of Ferrando’s timely intervention … The book is an essential reading for all who are interested in a lucid understanding of this new horizon of philosophical theory and praxis of our times. And it is perfect as a textbook on the subject for college or university students. * Sophia *An erudite and important contribution to the growing field of Posthumanist literature ... An exciting, inspiring and at times dizzying book that successfully identifies the urgency of posthumanist thought in a world increasingly beleaguered by legacies of Western humanist practices. * Theory, Culture & Society *[A] pioneering work in the rather young intellectual tradition of Posthumanism … Ferrando’s book has its biggest merit in bringing together a very thoughtful historical analysis of the intellectual roots of posthumanism and at the same time using these considerations within the performance of posthuman theory as nondualist and non-anthropocentric celebration of life in all its diversity. The author meets highest academic standards in presenting the diverse theories involved within this movement of thought and adds a very accessible and engaging text to the canon of philosophical literature. * AI & Society *With an impressive ability to combine a recognition of the current state of scholarship, a synoptic vision of the field, and an enthusiasm for research and discovery, Ferrando portrays the posthuman in its heterogeneity and philosophical posthumanism in its multifaceted theoretical endeavors. Furthermore, she does this with the rigor and skill of a distinguished scholar, the explanatory ability of an expert teacher, the enthusiasm and pathos of a narrator, and the inspiration of a prophetic "realistic" announcer. * Interconnections: Journal of Posthumanism *Contains a series of original reflections which will not fail to stimulate robust discussion ... [Ferrando] builds an ontology of the posthuman that embraces the whole of reality, extending posthumanism’s scope to the entire universe, and indeed, to all possible universes. * Philosophy Now *Engages in a passionate way with the history of posthuman thinking, its future visions and various schools of thought nourished by a critical stance toward classical humanism ... [Ferrando] meets highest academic standards in presenting her arguments and adds a very accessible and engaging text to the canon of philosophical literature. * Popular Inquiry *A wholly exciting, easy to follow, and useful reference. * Il Capitale Culturale *Francesca Ferrando's Philosophical Posthumanism is the best book on transhumanism that I have read so far. I believe that it is a must-read for transhumanists and non-transhumanists alike. * Singularity *Thought-provoking and meaningful. * VTU Review: Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences *In this stunning book Francesca Ferrando paints a clear and inspirational picture of the future of humankind. Her book is both thorough and exciting. It is a delight to see that she does not simply toe the line and follow 'official' thinking, but quite rightly the philosophy of Nietzsche and Lamarck gets an airing. If you want to know what Posthumanism is all about and peek into our future world, then dive into the book and wallow in its pages. * Kevin Warwick, Emeritus Professor, Coventry University and Reading University, UK *Francesca Ferrando book will be of great value to those who wish to understand the range of non-anthropocentric approaches to philosophy and politics. In Philosophical Posthumanism, they will find an account of the theoretical foundations and practice of posthumanism that is impressively scholarly, ethically engaged and engaging. * David Roden, Associate Lecturer in Philosophy, The Open University, UK *The emergence of posthuman thinking is a paradigm shifting event. Categorical dualities get twisted. Francesca Ferrando is at the forefront of thinking philosophically about the great variety of correlated developments. * Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, Associate Professor of Philosophy, John Cabot University Rome, Italy *A remarkable text ... The intensity and depth with which Francesca Ferrando addresses complex posthumanist theories, while manifesting her own conceptualization of posthumanism, united with clarity and precision, makes this a text that can be approached by both experts and laymen in the field. * Isegoría, Revista de Filosofía moral y política *Ferrando presents her brand of posthumanist thought with an intense academic vigor, consistent systematicity, and a genuine commitment. * KULT Online *What makes Philosophical Posthumanism a generous and creative work is Francesca Ferrando’s ‘appreciation of the paradoxical structure of the posthuman condition itself’ ... the most distinguishing feature of [the book] is its author’s vision towards a better future. * Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture *Table of ContentsForeword: The Posthuman As Exuberant Excess by Rosi Braidotti Introduction: From Humans to Posthumans 1. Part 1 What is Philosophical Posthumanism? 1. Premises 2. From Postmodern to Posthuman 3. Posthumanism and Its Others 4. The Birth of Transhumanism 5. Contemporary Transhumanism(s) 6 The Roots of Transhumanism 7 Transhumanism and Techno-Enchantment 8. Posthumanist Technologies as Ways of Revealing 9. Antihumanism and the Übermensch 10. Philosophical Posthumanism Interlude 1 Part 2 Of Which “Human” is the Posthuman a “Post”? 11. The Power of the Hyphen 12. Humanizing 13. The Anthropological Machine 14. Almost, Human 15. Technologies of the Self as Posthumanist (Re)Sources 16. The Epiphany of Becoming Human 17. Where does the word “human” come from? 18. Mammals or Homo sapiens? Interlude 2 Part 3 Have We Always Been Posthuman? 19. Post-Anthropocentrism in the Anthropocene 20. Posthuman Life a. Bios and Zoe b. Animate / Inanimate 21. Artificial Life 22. Evolving Species 23. Posthumanities 24. Posthuman Bioethics 25. Human Enhancement 26. Cognitive Autopoiesis 27. Posthumanist Perspectivism 28. From New Materialisms to Object Oriented Ontology 29. Philosophical Posthumanist Ontology 30. The Multiverse a. The Multiverse in Science b. The Multiverse in Philosophy c. A Thought Experiment: The Posthuman Multiverse Concluding Celebration Bibliography Acknowledgements

    1 in stock

    £27.99

  • Death and Love

    Taylor & Francis Death and Love

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisDeath and Love brings together notable psychoanalytic and philosophical theorists to explore the connection between death and love.The book examines how these phenomena shape human existence and relationships, challenging the conventional dichotomy between life-affirming and death-driven dimensions. The volume features contributions from international scholars who illustrate these ideas through various lenses, including literature, film, and theology. The chapters consider the role of the death drive in shaping social bonds, the transformative power of love beyond individual existence, and the notion that, both philosophically and psychoanalytically, love aligns with the realm of death.Death and Love will be essential reading for academics and students of philosophy, psychoanalysis, existentialism, theology, and psychology. It will also be of interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training, and to all readers wishing to explore this thought-provoki

    1 in stock

    £33.24

  • But Is It Art

    Oxford University Press But Is It Art

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn today''s art world many strange, even shocking, things qualify as art. In this book, Cynthia Freeland explains why innovation and controversy are valued in the arts, weaving together philosophy and art theory with many fascinating examples. She discusses blood, beauty, culture, money, museums, sex, and politics, clarifying contemporary and historical accounts of the nature, function, and interpretation of the arts. Freeland also propels us into the future by surveying cutting-edge web sites, along with the latest research on the brain''s role in perceiving art. This clear, provocative book engages with the big debates surrounding our responses to art and is an invaluable introduction to anyone interested in thinking about art.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition So many of the questions that define us as a culture have been raised through and by the art of recent decades, that without coming to terms with our art, we can scarcely understand ourselves. Cynthia Freeland has written a very smart book, in which high philosophical intelligence is applied to difficult questions raised by real works of art. It immediately situates the reader where thought and action meet, and since the issues are inescapable, it should be required reading for everyone. 'I know of no work that moves so swiftly and with so sure a footing through the battle zones of art and society today.' * Arthur C. Danto, Columbia University, author of After the end of art *This pocket potboiler provides some answers, a lot of questions and plenty of entertainment along the way * TNT Magazine 25/03/2002 *this is a pacy and readable introduction to art history * Independent on Sunday 10/03/2002 *admirable for its scope, compactness and exceptional clarity. Reader-friendly and thought-provoking * The Independent, 23/02/2002 *a book of simplicity and clarity that may well come to rival John Berger's Ways of Seeing as a reader's digest of the rubric of theories that make up contemporary art criticism . . . This is a valuable book for anyone perplexed by the arcane theorising of contemporary art * Sue Hubbard, The Independent 14/03/01 *.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ; 1. Blood and Beauty ; 2. Paradigms and Purposes ; 3. Cultural Crossings ; 4. Money, Markets, Museums ; 5. Gender, Genius, and Guerrilla Girls ; 6. Cognition, Creation, Comprehension ; 7. Digitizing and Disseminating ; Conclusion ; References ; Further Reading ; Index

    1 in stock

    £12.59

  • Essays on Ethics and Culture

    Oxford University Press Essays on Ethics and Culture

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis volume presents a series of essays by Sabina Lovibond on moral philosophy, drawing on ideas from Platonic-Aristotelian ethics, the later Wittgenstein, and Iris Murdoch. A common theme is the lived experience of the socially situated subject, and Lovibond considers the role of imaginative literature (especially the novel) in ethical formation.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Wittgenstein and Moral Realism: The Debate Continues 2: Wittgenstein, Tolstoy, and the 'Apocalyptic View' 3: 'The Sickness of a Time': Social Pathology and Therapeutic Philosophy 4: Second Nature, Habitus, and the Ethical: Remarks on Wittgenstein and Bourdieu 5: Practical Reason and Character-Formation 6: Between Tradition and Criticism: The 'Uncodifiability' of the Normative 7: The Unquiet Life: Salience and Moral Responsibility 8: The Varieties of Attention 9: The Elusiveness of the Ethical: From Murdoch to Diamond 10: Post-Existentialist Moments: Murdoch and Highsmith 11: Iris Murdoch and the Quality of Consciousness 12: Vulnerable and Invulnerable: Two Faces of Dialectical Reasoning 13: Judith Butler on Political Agency 14: Philosophy, Literature, Politics: The Cases of Rorty and Collingwood Acknowledgements Index

    1 in stock

    £83.60

  • The Aesthetics of Music

    Clarendon Press The Aesthetics of Music

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhat is music, what is its value, and what does it mean? In this exciting book, the philosopher Roger Scruton explores the nature and meaning of music from first principles and gives a fascinating analysis of musical organization, together with a provocative account of contemporary civilization and its discontents.Trade ReviewA formidably gifted philosopher, he here combines analytical rigour with a daunting knowledge of the repertoire as a performer and occasional composer, to ask the most fundamental questions about what music is and what our capacity to enjoy it tells us about the human condition. This is a rich and rewarding study, and I doubt whether anyone could have done it better. * Jonathan Sachs, The Times *Table of ContentsPreface ; List of Music Examples ; Note to the Reader ; 1. Sound ; 2. Tone ; 3. Imagination and Metaphor ; 4. Ontology ; 5. Representation ; 6. Expression ; 7. Language ; 8. Understanding ; 9. Tonality ; 10. Form ; 11. Content ; 12. Value ; 13. Analysis ; 14. Performance ; 15. Culture ; Bibliography ; Acknowledgements ; Index

    1 in stock

    £35.62

  • Creativity

    Oxford University Press Creativity

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring For thousands of years humanity has engaged in creative expression, allowing us to relate to other people, contribute to shared culture, build an identity, and give meaning to our existence. From the painted caves in Lascaux and the invention of the first tools to modern day advertising campaigns and inventors'' labs, creativity has a long past but a short history. The word ''creativity'' emerged in the English language in the 19th century and only become popular from the mid-20th century.This Very Short Introduction explores the history, theory, and practice of creativity from a psychological perspective. Vlad Glaveanu considers the nature and development of the creative process, and analyzes the reasons why we produce creative work. Offering a sociocultural reading of this phenomenon, he discusses how we can understand creative people and their creations within the social, material, and historical context that made them possible. In doing so, he demonstrates how we can address the meaning and value of creativity beyond its contribution to economic growth and personal well-being. Finally Glaveanu focuses on the future of creativity and creativity research, reflecting on technological development, the evolution of society and, ultimately, on our place in a world populated by creative beings, ideas, and encounters. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of Contents1: Creativity: what is it? 2: The who of creativity 3: The what of creativity 4: The how of creativity 5: The when and where of creativity 6: The why of creativity 7: Creativity: where to? Further Reading Index

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • Sonic Flux

    The University of Chicago Press Sonic Flux

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisFrom Edison's invention of the phonograph through contemporary field recording and sound installation, artists have become attracted to those domains against which music has always defined itself: noise, silence, and environmental sound. Christoph Cox argues that these developments in the sonic arts are not only aesthetically but also philosophically significant, revealing sound to be a continuous material flow to which human expressions contribute but which precedes and exceeds those expressions. Cox shows how, over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, philosophers and sonic artists have explored this sonic flux. Through the philosophical analysis of works by John Cage, Maryanne Amacher, Max Neuhaus, Christian Marclay, and many others, Sonic Flux contributes to the development of a materialist metaphysics and poses a challenge to the prevailing positions in cultural theory, proposing a realist and materialist aesthetics able to account not only for sonic art but for

    1 in stock

    £24.70

  • A Defense of Judgment

    The University of Chicago Press A Defense of Judgment

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisTeachersof literature make judgments about value.Theytelltheirstudentswhichworks are powerful, beautiful, surprising, strange,orinsightfuland thus,whichare more worthy oftime and attention than others. Yetthe field of literary studieshaslargely disavowed judgments of artistic value on the grounds that they are inevitablyrootedin prejudice or entangled in problems of social status.For several decades now, professors havecalledtheirwork value-neutral,simplya means for students to gain cultural, political, or historical knowledge. ?Michael W. Clune's provocative book challenges these objections to judgment and offers a positive account of literary studies as an institution of aesthetic education.It is impossible, Clune argues, toseparatejudgments about literary value from the practices of interpretation and analysis that constitute any viable model of literary expertise.Clune envisions a progressive politics freed from the strictures of dogmatic equality and enlivened by education in aesthetic judgment,transcendingconsumer culture and market preferences.Drawing on psychological and philosophical theories ofknowledge andperception,Cluneadvocates forthe cultivation of whatJohnKeats called negative capability, the capacity to place existing criteria in doubtand to discover new concepts and new values in artworks.Moving from theory to practice, Clune takes up works byKeats,Emily Dickinson, Gwendolyn Brooks, Samuel Beckett, and Thomas Bernhard, showing how close readingthe profession's traditional key skillharnesses judgment to open new modes of perception.Trade Review"Clune's A Defense of Judgment [attempts] to revivify a version of what Northrop Frye called 'literary experience' as the basis on which judgments of value can be made. His timing is propitious: the scholarly landscape is more favorable to the aesthetic than it has been in decades. . . . In a way that much academic criticism is not, [A Defense of Judgment] is refreshingly alive to the necessity of helping people learn how to appreciate works of art." -- V. Joshua Adams * Chicago Review *"We need to admit—embrace—that our role as literary critics, and educators, is to provide expert judgment; Clune argues that it’s what most of us are already doing anyway." -- Kasia Bartoszynska * Critical Inquiry * “What makes A Defense of Judgment surprising and sometimes even thrilling is how Clune relates his critique to a progressive, anti-capitalist politics.” -- Nate Klug * Commonweal *“This work should be taken seriously by anyone who thinks that criticism matters, whether it’s conducted in an online forum, a publication, or in a classroom.” -- Brice Ezell * PopMatters *"Clune’s A Defense of Judgment is a forceful polemic calling for English professors to defend themselves as experts. . . . Clune’s theory of literary appreciation does justice to the specificity of literary experience." -- Patrick Fessenbecker * Public Books *"An ambitious attempt to justify the work of judging 'value' in humanistic study. Clune’s frame of reference is specific—he writes as a scholar of literature—but his arguments have broad implications for the humanities." -- Matthew Mutter * Hedgehog Review *"Clune argues that everyone can learn how to make better artistic judgments—judgments typically based on one's own aesthetics, class, biases, education, and background. . . . Clune wants to convince the reader that making up one's mind about the worth of a play, a painting, or a book requires understanding the country in which one lives, for example, a country dived by race, class, and religion—not one nation under God, but many different peoples. Since people bring to art their own personal and collective histories, education is needed; people come from their own artistic country and thus need to learn how to see and hear well to make good judgments." * Choice *“A Defense of Judgment is a characteristically brilliant, strongly argued, intellectually accessible attempt to provide a template for rethinking the role of value judgments in teaching and writing (and thinking) about literature, and by implication the arts generally. Clune’s discussion is continually illuminating, as are the exemplary readings he offers of works by Dickinson, Brooks, and Thomas Bernhard.” * Michael Fried, Johns Hopkins University *“A Defense of Judgment mounts a lucid and compelling argument for the centrality of judgment, and a polemical critique of the disciplinary pieties that assume questions of value can be bracketed off from our core business of engaging critically with texts. Clune takes on the difficult theoretical and political consequences of defending a practice of judgment grounded in expertise, in particular by developing a rigorous critique of the principle of equality.” * John Frow, University of Sydney *“Clune’s scholarship is positively entertaining. He never fails to produce surprises, particularly as he discovers connections between the question of aesthetic judgment and a constellation of seemingly far-flung topics, including neoclassical economic theories, contemporary philosophy, poetry and death, and contemporary race relations. A Defense of Judgment is remarkable for its acuity and its clarity. It takes on a question central to the future of literary studies and offers a forceful and persuasive answer, one that is likely to spark a lot of debate and almost certainly some controversy.” * Timothy Aubry, Baruch College, City University of New York *"Why study literature? What do humanities professors teach? In taking on these and other topics, A Defense of Judgment presents the clearest and most forceful account of literary studies that has yet to emerge from our moment of constant disciplinary self-reflection, justification, and reinvention. It's exhilarating to be in Clune's intellectual company. Even if you disagree (and many readers will disagree), you will find your thinking sharpened by engaging with his argument." * Genre *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part 1. The Theory of Judgment 1. Judgment and Equality 2. Judgment and Commercial Culture 3. Judgment and Expertise I: Attention and Incorporation 4. Judgment and Expertise II: Concepts and Criteria Part 2. The Practice of Judgment 5. How Poems Know What It’s Like to Die 6. Bernhard’s Way 7. Race Makes Class Visible Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

    1 in stock

    £22.80

  • Fragilities

    MIT Press Fragilities

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £58.90

  • Before Sunrise Before Sunset Before Midnight

    Taylor & Francis Before Sunrise Before Sunset Before Midnight

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisRichard Linklaterâs celebrated Before trilogy chronicles the love of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and CÃline (Julie Delpy) who first meet up in Before Sunrise, later reconnect in Before Sunset and finally experience a fall-out in Before Midnight. Not only do these films present storylines and dilemmas that invite philosophical discussion, but philosophical discussion itself is at the very heart of the trilogy. This book, containing specially commissioned chapters by a roster of international contributors, explores the many philosophical themes that feature so vividly in the interactions between CÃline and Jesse, including: the nature of love, romanticism and marriage the passage and experience of time the meaning of life the art of conversation the narrative self gender death Including an interview with Julie Delpy iTrade Review"No matter how in love you were at 20, no matter how beautiful it was at 30, no matter how conflicted you were at 40: you are going to die. This is the sad reality for all of us. It is revolting, it is upsetting, it is wrong, it is unfair. But it is the human condition."Julie Delpy, actor and screenwriter of the Before trilogy"The collection follows a recognisable approach of analytically-inflected film-philosophy, and the results are illuminating and rewarding. At its best, such an approach provides a vocabulary and a framework that helps one better to articulate one’s existing experience of the film, while also managing to help one to view the film from a fresh angle, which reveals new connections and points of emphasis."-James Zborowski, Film-Philosophy Table of ContentsIntroduction Hans Maes and Katrien Schaubroeck 1. The Poetry of Day-to-Day Life Michael Smith 2. Time and Transcendence in the Before Trilogy Marya Schechtman 3. A Trilogy of Melancholy: On the bittersweet in Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight Hans Maes 4. ‘Relational vertigo’ in Before Midnight Christopher Cowley 5. Epic Intimacy Murray Smith 6. ‘Romantic or Cynic’: Romantic Attraction as Justification Diane Jeske 7. The Many Faces of Conversation in the Before Trilogy Kalle Puolakka 8. Love, Death and Life’s Summum Bonum: The Before Trilogy as Memento Mori Anna Christina Ribeiro 9. Falling in Love with a Film (Series) Katrien Schaubroeck and Hans Maes 10. Romance, Narrative, and the Sense of a Happy Ending in the Before Series James MacDowell 11. "We Are Everything and We Are Nothing." An interview with Julie Delpy Hans Maes and Katrien Schaubroeck. Index

    1 in stock

    £35.99

  • Being and Nothingness

    Taylor & Francis Being and Nothingness

    5 in stock

    Book SynopsisFirst published in French in 1943, Jean-Paul Sartreâs LâÊtre et le NÃant is one of the greatest philosophical works of the twentieth century. In it, Sartre offers nothing less than a brilliant and radical account of the human condition. The English philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch wrote to a friend of the excitement â I remember nothing like it since the days of discovering Keats and Shelley and Coleridge. This new translation, the first for over sixty years, makes this classic work of philosophy available to a new generation of readers.What gives our lives significance, Sartre argues in Being and Nothingness, is not pre-established for us by God or nature but is something for which we ourselves are responsible. At the heart of this view are Sartreâs radical conceptions of consciousness and freedom. Far from being an internal, passive container for our thoughts and experiences, human consciousness is constantly projecting itself into the outside world and Trade Review"Sarah Richmond has now produced a meticulous, elegant translation…" - Jonathan Rée, London Review of Books"Sarah Richmond’s superb new translation…is supplemented by a wealth of explanatory and analytical material [and] a particularly detailed and insightful set of notes on the translation…The first translation of Being and Nothingness was a major academic achievement that has influenced thought across a range of disciplines for more than sixty years. This new edition has the potential to be at least as influential over the coming decades." - Jonathan Webber, Mind"The publication of this excellent new English translation of L’Être et le néant is a welcome addition to the library of Sartre scholarship … There is every chance that it will also attract non-specialist readers to Sartre’s early philosophy and will thus importantly contribute to keeping existentialist thought alive in a context and era chronically bereft of genuine philosophical enlightenment." - Sam Coombes, French Studies"Translating such a book is manifestly a labour of love—it was as much for Barnes as for Richmond, and generations of Anglophone Sartre scholars remain grateful to Barnes, even if, as I expect (and hope) it will, Richmond's careful, thoughtful, and thought‐provoking translation becomes the standard one for use by students as well as professionals." - Katherine J. Morris, European Journal of Philosophy"Sarah Richmond's marvellously clear and thoughtful new translation brings Sartre's rich, infuriating, endlessly fertile masterpiece to a whole new English-language readership." – Sarah Bakewell, author of At The Existentialist Café"Sartre’s philosophy will always be important. Being and Nothingness is not an easy read but Sarah Richmond makes it accessible in English to the general reader. Her translation is exemplary in its clarity." - Richard Eyre"Sarah Richmond's translation of this ground-zero existentialist text is breathtaking. Having developed a set of brilliant translation principles, laid out carefully in her introductory notes, she has produced a version of Sartre’s magnum opus that—finally!—renders his challenging philosophical prose comprehensible to the curious general reader and his most compelling phenomenological descriptions and analyses luminous and thrilling for those of us who have studied Being and Nothingness for years." - Nancy Bauer, Tufts University, USA"This superb new translation is an extraordinary resource for Sartre scholars, including those who can read the work in French. Not only has Sarah Richmond produced an outstandingly accurate and fluent translation, but her extensive notes, introduction, and editorial comments ensure that the work will be turned to for clarification by all readers of Sartre. All in all, this is a major philosophical moment in Sartre studies." - Christina Howells, University of Oxford, UK"A new translation of Being and Nothingness has been long overdue. Sarah Richmond has done an excellent job of translating and clarifying Sartre’s magnum opus, making its rich content accessible to a wider audience." - Dan Zahavi, University of Copenhagen, Denmark"With its scholarly introduction, up-to-date bibliography and numerous footnotes, Richmond's fluent and precise translation will be an indispensable tool even for scholars able to read Sartre in French." - Andrew Leak, University College London, UK"This fine new translation provides us with as crisp a rendering as possible of Sartre’s complex prose. Richmond’s introduction, and a panoply of informative notes, also invite readers to share with her the intricacies of the task of translation and assist in grasping many of the conceptual vocabularies and nuances of this vital text." - Sonia Kruks, author of Simone de Beauvoir and the Politics of AmbiguityTable of ContentsForeword Richard Moran Translator’s Introduction Sarah Richmond Introduction: In Search of Being Part 1: The Problem of Nothingness 1. The Origin of Negation 2. Bad Faith Part 2: Being-For-Itself 1. The Immediate Structures of the For-Itself 2. Temporality 3. Transcendence Part 3: Being-for-the-Other 1. The Other’s Existence 2. The Body 3. Concrete Relations with the Other Part 4: To Have, To Do and To Be 1. Being and Doing: Freedom 2. To Do and to Have Conclusion. Index

    5 in stock

    £25.99

  • From Romanticism to Critical Theory The

    Taylor & Francis From Romanticism to Critical Theory The

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis study offers a new view of literary theory as an essential part of modern philosophy and contests the view that it is a product of deconstruction.Trade Review`Bowie argues brilliantly and persuasively for the continued relevance of the romantic project for contemporary thought...in the past few years I have found few books that display such a sovereignty with regard to the most difficult philosophical and aesthetic issues of the past two centuries.' - Robert Holub, University of California, Berkeley`Bowie's study is an impressive and thoughtful contribution to an important debate...he provides a rich intellectual context for the understanding of modern and postmodern culture in general and of recent critical theory in particular' - Martin Swales, University College, London'Bowie manages to tease out insights from the thinkers he discusses with remarkable dexterity,' - Austin Harrington, Radical Philosophy'Bowie's splendid book ... remains at all times demanding, intelligible and highly readable ... immensely impressive ... the book is certain to be referred to for a long time to come and should be acquired by all university libraries.' - BARS Bulletin and Review'This is an essential contribution to Romantic studies, and one that should set the terms of the debate for many years to come.' - RomanticismTable of ContentsPreface and acknowledgements; Introduction, Andrew Bowie; Chapter 1 Philosophical origins, Andrew Bowie; Chapter 2 Shifting the ground, Andrew Bowie; Chapter 3 The philosophy of critique and the critique of philosophy, Andrew Bowie; Chapter 4 Interpretative reasons, Andrew Bowie; Chapter 5 The ethics of interpretation, Andrew Bowie; Chapter 6 Being true, Andrew Bowie; Chapter 7 The truth of art, Andrew Bowie; Chapter 8 Understanding Walter Benjamin, Andrew Bowie; Chapter 9 The culture of truth, Andrew Bowie; Chapter 102 Conclusion, Andrew Bowie;

    1 in stock

    £47.75

  • Green

    Princeton University Press Green

    7 in stock

    Book Synopsis"First published in French language by Editions du Seuil, Paris, under the title Vert, Histoire d'une couleur." c2013--Page facing title page.Trade ReviewOne of The Guardian's Best Books of 2014 One of TheAustralian.com's "In the Good Books" 2014 One of The Globe and Mail 75 Book Ideas for Christmas 2014 "[C]omprehensive and lavishly illustrated."---Natalie Angier, New York Times "[S]umptuously illustrated... These are books to look at, but they are also books to read... Individual colors find their being only in relation to each other, and their cultural force depends on the particular instance of their use. They have no separate life or essential meaning. They have been made to mean, and in these volumes that human endeavor has found its historian."--Michael Gorra, New York Review of Books "Pastoureau's engaging cultural history of the color green tackles art history and color theory... With the look and feel of an artbook, this book holds equal amounts of substance of in the text... His anecdotes are insightful, the references occasionally delightfully esoteric... [H]e gives this substantial discussion further contemporary relevance."--Publishers Weekly "Beautifully illustrated."--Daily Mail "From the ample green gown in Jan van Eyck's painting "The Arnolfini Wedding" to the chartreuse and shamrock in Paolo Veronese's work, from Paul Cezanne's apples to Kees van Dongen's Fauvist use of mint and jungle greens, there's much to sink your eyes into."--Mary Louise Schumacher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "As this beautifully illustrated work shows, the 'uneasiness' of being green is what makes its story so interesting."--Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald "[C]easelessly fascinating and erudite."--Michael Glover, Independent "We absolutely loved this book and we didn't merely read it, we read it twice... Colors are not just colors: they have a history and we can't imagine it ever being superseded by anything more than what Michel Pastoureau has accomplished in his monumental work, Green. Designers of all ilks everywhere need to read this book, and the prior colors (Blue and Black) and future colors he comes out with as well. The thought process, planning and impeccable research that must have gone into this book is prodigious... [T]hough Kermit said it's not easy being green, reading this book is an easy decision! ... This is a hefty tome that lends credence to the academic side of fashion theory... Pastoureau has provided us with a tour de force erudite approach to color... [P]ut it on your Christmas gift list for anyone in the fashion or art world. It's a must to own, and so much fun as a read. Academically speaking, it's popular culture at its best... Green is highly recommended by Whom You Know!"--Whom You Know "[Pastoureau's] pleasantly rambling illustrated narrative charts the changing place of green in Western thought, art and life, from prehistory to the present day."--Caroline Bugler, World of Interiors "[S]prightly... Green is a dash through domains and contexts as varied yet related as optics, clothing manufacture, vexillology, literature, color lexicons, and the history of painting... The point, Pastoureau emphasizes, is that green is, among the colors, exquisitely unstable--both in color theory and in real-life manufacture... Pastoureau is fascinating in describing the long decline of green in the period just before the Age of Revolution."--Eric Banks, Chronicle Review "Michel Pastoureau's Green: The History of a Color is an interesting look at how this sometimes forgotten hue has been perceived in art, fashion, and culture. Beautiful art and a thorough historical survey make this book an irresistible read."--Traditional Home "It ain't easy being ... a book about the colour green. Pastoureau shows us what green has signified at various points in various cultures, and the book illuminates the journey with its bright design."--Globe and Mail "Matching historical detail to artistic and cultural works of art, Pastoureau demonstrates that green richly deserves its place in both the bygone and the contemporary palette."--Lara Killian, PopMatters "In Green: The History of a Color, Michel Pastoureau shows all of the possibilities in just one band of the spectrum... Pastoureau's approach is elegant and revelatory... Green's text is choreographed with accompanying artwork to produce a skillfully designed embarrassment of riches. Clearly, one or two sumptuary laws are being violated. John Calvin is rotating in his grave with enough energy to create prop wash. The paper has heft but not weight. The cover reminds us that we are in a High Age of dust jacket design (the hard cover underneath is no poor relative, either). Text, art, design, materials: a book's book. Open it on plane or train and catch the envious spark--green, of course--in your neighbor's eye."--Peter Lewis, Barnes and Noble Review "A charming study, filled with numerous photos and illustrations. This book will be of great interest to those fascinated by history, culture, and design."--Library Journal "Taking great care not to project present-day definitions, classifications, and conceptions of color onto the past, he follows green's history from early negative associations and its notoriously fugitive pigments to its evolved status as the color of money, fecundity, nature, and environmental concerns... As a companion volume to the author's previous titles, Blue and Black, or as a stand-alone work, this highly anecdotal and beautifully written book belongs in the collection of every library."--Choice "[A] splendid work, vastly informative and beautifully produced... I once toyed with the idea of writing a book on the theme myself and must confess that Pastoureau's book is immeasurably superior to the one I had planned. If only there were a color that signified envy."--Kevin Jackson, Literary Review "Pastoureau's lifetime of research and consideration provide the strong historical and theoretical basis of this excellent study. It is fascinating to recognize that something as seemingly constant as a color is constantly changing, both in actual fact and in how we interpret it. For anyone interested in becoming more familiar with the colors that beautify and enrich our lives, or for anyone interested in thumbing through a richly illustrated, fantastically intelligent book, Green: The History of a Color, is intensely rewarding."--Stephan Delbos, Body Praise for the French edition:"A beautiful presentation of a long-unloved color."--Daphne Betard, Beaux-Arts Praise for the French edition:"A beautiful book that opens the windows wide."--Marie Chaudey, La VieTable of ContentsIntroduction 7 An uncertain color (From the beginning to the year 1000) 11 Did the Greeks see green? 14 Green among the Romans 20 The emerald and the leek 26 Hippodrome green 31 The silences of the Bible and the church fathers 36 A middle color 40 Islamic green 46 A courtly color (11th-14th centuries) 51 The beauty of green 54 A place for green: the orchard 58 A time for green: the spring 65 Youth, love, and hope 71 A chivalrous color 78 A green hero: Tristan 83 A dangerous color (14th-16th centuries) 87 Satan's green bestiary 90 From green to greenish 97 The green knight 103 The dyer's vats 112 "Gay green" and "lost green" 118 Heraldic green 125 The colors of the poet 129 A secondary color (16th-19th centuries) 135 Protestant morals 138 The green of painters 142 New knowledge, new classifications 152 Alceste's ribbons and the green of the theater 155 Superstitions and fairy tales 159 Green in the age of the enlightenment 167 A romantic color? 172 A soothing color (19th-21st centuries) 179 A fashionable color 182 Return to the palette 186 Chevreul and the scientists did not like green 193 Neither did Kandinsky or the Bauhaus 200 Green in everyday life 205 Nature in the heart of the cities 209 Green today 217 Acknowledgments 223 Notes 224 Bibliography 235 Photography credits 240

    7 in stock

    £31.50

  • Aesthetics

    John Wiley and Sons Ltd Aesthetics

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis volume of lectures on aesthetics, given by Adorno in the winter semester of 1958/59, formed the foundation for his later text Aesthetic Theory, widely regarded as one of Adorno s greatest works.Trade Review"Adorno's lectures provide a fascinating glimpse into the philosophical workshop where his ideas were forged and developed, and this lecture course on aesthetics from the late 1950s is no exception. With an irrepressible sense of intellectual adventure, Adorno argues with the giants of the German tradition in the philosophy of art, interprets Plato's theory of beauty in the Phaedrus, and struggles to make sense of the music of John Cage. He offers a virtuoso series of variations on his central claim that, in art, we experience reason 'in the form of its otherness', as a 'particular resistance' to the instrumental rationality which dominates our lives." Peter Dews, University of Essex "These lectures are much more than an early record of Adorno's path toward his late, uncompleted masterwork, Aesthetic Theory. They represent an independent and often revelatory statement of his thinking on aesthetics in the late 1950's. This book is an indispensable addition to the English-language reader's understanding of this central thinker." Michael Jennings, Princeton UniversityTable of ContentsEditor's Foreword LECTURE 1The situationThe possibility of philosophical aesthetics todayThe connection between philosophy and aesthetics in KantHegel's definition of beautyAesthetic objectivityA critique of 'aesthetics from above'On the methodThe problem of aesthetic relativityThe objectivity of aesthetic judgementAesthetic logicThe irrationality of artThe work of art as an expression of naïvetéBasic research in the field of aesthetics LECTURE 2Not a set of instructionsThe individualist prejudiceTalentResistance to aestheticsThe poles of aesthetic insight: (a) Theoretical reflection; (b) The experience of artistic practiceAgainst cultivatednessThe riddle characterA justification of the philosophy of art'Aesthetics' is equivocalNatural beauty and artistic beautyHegel's turn away from natural beautyUnresolved aspect to natural beauty LECTURE 3The elusiveness of natural beautyThe model character of natural beautyAuraThe experiences of something objective'Mood'The mediation of natural beauty and artistic beautyThe historicity of natural beautyThe sublime in KantAesthetic experience is dialectical in itself 'Disinterested pleasure' LECTURE 4Special sphere of aesthetic semblanceThe taboo on desireSublimationDissonance'Spring's command, sweet need'MimesisImitationTransition LECTURE 5The separation of art from the real worldPlay and semblance'The world once again'Art as 'unfolding of truth'The negation of the reality principleExpression of sufferingThe participation of art in the process of controlling natureTechniqueProgress LECTURE 6Does art merely express what has been destroyed?Restoring the bodyStart from the most advanced artThe expressive ideal of expressionismPrincipium stilisationisConstructionThe dialectic of expression and construction LECTURE 7Nature is historicalConstruction and formA critique of the creator roleThe aversion to expressionThe reduction of the individualFalling silent after AuschwitzThe crisis of meaningThe limits of construction LECTURE 8The crisis of meaning (contd.)Giving a voice to mutilated natureExpression of alienationDefamiliarizationConsistency of constructionAleatory musicThe problem of characters LECTURE 9The Platonic doctrine of beautyIntroduction to an interpretation of the PhaedrusEnthousiasmosBeauty as a form of madnessBeing seizedPain as a constituent of the experience of beautyNot a definitionIdeaThe subjectivity of beautyThe imitation of the idea of beautyThe aspect of danger in beauty LECTURE 10Interpretation of the Phaedrus, contd.The paradox of beautyThe image of beautyAffinity with deathElevating oneself above the contingent world Kant's theory of the sublimeThe sensual and the spiritual in artForce field LECTURE 11Ontology and dialectic in PlatoThe relationship between beauty and artThe aspect of uglinessThe aspect of sensual pleasureAesthetic experience'Throw away in order to gain!'The meaning of the whole LECTURE 12RecapitulationEnjoyment of artThe inhabitantFetishismAesthetic enjoymentThe suspension of the principium individuationisUnderstanding works of art LECTURE 13Reflective co-enactmentAesthetic stupidityTranslation, commentary, critiqueThe spiritualization of artConstructivismThe dialectic of sensual and spiritual aspects in the work of art LECTURE 14Spiritual contentThe structural contextForce fieldThe allergy to sensual pleasureAesthetics without beauty LECTURE 15Correcting the definition of the work of artAlienationReference to the object in visual art'Abstract' artForm as sedimented contentLoss of tensionTheoretical preconditions of artistic experience LECTURE 16Beauty and truthNaturalismTruth of expressionCoherenceNecessityThe idea of beauty as something internally in motionHomeostasisThe mediated truth LECTURE 17Subjectivism and objectivism in aestheticsHegel's critique of tasteThe physiognomy of the aestheteGoût quamd mêmeAccumulated experienceFashion LECTURE 18A critique of aesthetic subjectivismA critique of psychological aestheticsMethodologyThe immediacy of subjective reactions is mediatedThe consumption of prestigeThe emotional relationship with art LECTURE 19Recapitulation'The Tired Businessman's Show'Conceptless synthesisThe cognition of artDefensive reactions to modern art LECTURE 20RecapitulationThe rancour of those left behind towards new artSemi-literacyThe alienation of modern art from consumption is itself socialLukács's pseudo-realismThe concept of ideologyKant's subjectivismA critique of the theory of aesthetic experienceThe ambiguity of the work of art LECTURE 21Recovery of the truthThe idea lies in the totality of aspects'... being completely filled with the matter'ExperienceThe psychology of the artistEmpathyThe work of art as objectified spiritArtistic production Adorno's Notes for the Lectures Editor's Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £23.74

  • Deleuze and the Body

    Edinburgh University Press Deleuze and the Body

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis book will be important reading for those with an interest in Deleuze, but also in performance arts, film, and contemporary culture.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Pity the Meat?: Deleuze and the Body, Joe Hughes; Deleuzism; 1. Time and Autopoiesis: The Organism Has Not Future, Claire Colebrook; 2. Larval Subjects, Autonomous Systems and E. Coli Chemotaxis, John Protevi; 3. Bodies of Learning, Anna Cutler and Iain MacKenzie; 4. Believing in the World: Toward an Ethics of Form, Joe Hughes; 5. Matter as Simulacrum; Thought as Phantasm; Body as Event, Nathan Widder; Practical Deleuzism; 6. The 'Virtual' Body and the Strange Persistence of the Flesh: Deleuze, Cyberspace and the Posthuman, Ella Brians; 7. 'Be(come) Yourself only Better': Self-transformation and the Materialisation of Images, Rebecca Coleman; 8. An Ethico-Aesthetics of Heroin Chic: Art, Cliche and Capitalism, Peta Malins; 9. Multi-Dimensional Modifications, Patricia MacCormack; 10. Dance and the Passing Moment: Deleuze's Nietzsche, Philipa Rothfield; Notes on Contributors; Index.

    1 in stock

    £26.09

  • Martial Aesthetics

    Stanford University Press Martial Aesthetics

    Book SynopsisTrade Review"Beautifully written and compelling, this book digs deep into military doctrine to understand the place of aesthetic cultures within it. Fascinating and disturbing."—Lucy Suchman, author of Human-Machine Reconfigurations: Plans and Situated Actions"A bold, ambitious, and expansive book."—Thomas Stubblefield, author of Drone Art: The Everywhere War as Medium"Erudite yet wonderfully readable, Martial Aesthetics traces the tangled histories of war and art to offer new insights into the artful design and operation of violence in the modern age. "—Caren Kaplan, author of Aerial Aftermaths: Wartime from Above

    £17.99

  • Cambridge University Press Aesthetic Knowledge

    1 in stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    1 in stock

    £17.00

  • Colonialism World Literature and the Making of

    Cambridge University Press Colonialism World Literature and the Making of

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis book offers an account of how the modern idea of the literary emerged, through the colonial archives. Situated at the cusp of postcolonialism and world literature, it offers a multilingual, multicultural, and comparative account of how literature became one of the most powerful cultural expressions of modernity.Trade Review'In this magisterial book, Baidik Bhattacharya develops a surprising thesis: that the modern conception of literature as an autonomous, self-directed cultural form was the product of a highly political process – the efforts of colonial British administrators to extend their sway in India and beyond. This is a compelling, revisionary genealogy of the contemporary idea of culture, and a major contribution to debates on the intertwined origins of world literature and modern empire.' David Damrosch, Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University'Baidik Bhattacharya's erudition in the fields of Indian and British literary history and his transdisciplinary approach to 'lettered sovereignty' as a catalyst of colonial modernity give us a fresh perspective on what Pascale Casanova famously dubbed the 'world republic of letters.' Philological legacies; questions of race, language, and translation; the formation and deformation of epistemic habits crucial to narratives of empire; comparatism in the colony (including the complex reception of European philosophies of aesthetic judgment and nationalist imagination within Indian education) – all receive fine-grained analysis, making Colonialism, World Literature, and the Making of the Modern Culture of Letters essential reading for scholars, critics, historians, and theorists committed to rethinking the postcolonial public sphere in the contemporary humanities.' Emily Apter, Julius Silver Professor of French and Comparative Literature at New York University, and author of Against World Literature: On the Politics of UntranslatabilityTable of ContentsPreface and acknowledgement; Introduction: formations of the literary sovereign; Part I. Epistemic Habits: 1. Ethnographic recension; 2. Colonial untranslatables; 3. Comparatism in the colony; Part II. Aesthetic Conventions: 4. Impure aesthetics; 5. Sanskrit on shagreen; 6. National enframing; Coda: Decolonization after world literature; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

    1 in stock

    £30.00

  • Cognition Emotion and Aesthetics in Contemporary

    Taylor & Francis Ltd Cognition Emotion and Aesthetics in Contemporary

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis book posits an interconnection between the ways in which contemporary television serials cue cognitive operations, solicit emotional responses, and elicit aesthetic appreciation. The chapters explore a number of questions including: How do the particularities of form and style in contemporary serial television engage us cognitively, emotionally, and aesthetically? How do they foster cognitive and emotional effects such as feeling suspense, anticipation, surprise, satisfaction, and disappointment? Why and how do we value some serials while disliking others? What is it about the particularities of serial television form and style, in conjunction with our common cognitive, emotional, and aesthetic capacities, that accounts for serial television's cognitive, socio-political, and aesthetic value and its current ubiquity in popular culture?This book will appeal to postgraduates and scholars working in television studies as well as film studies, cognitive media theory, mTable of Contents1. Introduction: Cognition, Emotion, and Aesthetics in Contemporary Serial Television Part 1. The Nature of Contemporary Televisual Seriality 2. Television’s Temporality: Seriality and Temporal Prolongation 3. Multi-plot Structure in Television Serials 4. “Oh My God, They Didn’t Kill Kenny”: Seriality and Viewer Engagement in Contemporary Animated Television 5. Seriality and Expressiveness in Mad Men Part 2. Audiences 6. From Shots to Storyworlds: The Cognitive Processes Supporting the Comprehension of Serialized Television 7. Beliefs, Desires, and Emotions: A Theory of Emotions and Some Implications for the Understanding of Viewer Reactions to TV Serials Part 3. Poetics 8. Reaching through Time: On Seriality, Temporality, and Twofoldness 9. Five Theses on the Difficulty of Ending Quality TV Series 10. Pop Music in Television Serials: Priming, Authorial Commentary, and Musical Memory 11. Twin Peaks and the Performative Poetics of Complex Television 12. Parallelism and Complex Storytelling in Film and TV Part 4. Value: Aesthetic and Beyond 13. Audiovisual Atmospheres, Moods, and Metaphoric Spaces: Aesthetically Rich Spaces in Complex TV Series 14. Repetition, Familiarity, and Aesthetic Pleasure: Formulaic Generic Television Series 15. Ethics and Bad Protagonists in Serial Television Drama 16. A Sense of Moment: Appreciating Television Serials from Aesthetic and Cognitive Perspectives

    1 in stock

    £37.04

  • A History of Classical Chinese Thought

    Taylor & Francis A History of Classical Chinese Thought

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisLi Zehou is widely regarded as one of Chinaâs most influential contemporary thinkers. He has produced influential theories of the development of Chinese thought and the place of aesthetics in Chinese ethics and value theory. This book is the first English-language translation of Li Zehouâs work on classical Chinese thought. It includes chapters on the classical Chinese thinkers, including Confucius, Mozi, Laozi, Sunzi, Xunzi and Zhuangzi, and also on later eras and thinkers such as Dong Zhongshu in the Han Dynasty and the Song-Ming Neo-Confucians.The essays in this book not only discuss these historical figures and their ideas, but also consider their historical significance, and how key themes from these early schools reappeared in and shaped later periods and thinkers. Taken together, they highlight the breadth of Li Zehouâs scholarship and his syncretic approachâhis explanations of prominent thinkers and key periods in Chinese intellectual history blend ideas from bTrade Review"We now have a new, very well-crafted and well-translated general history of classical Chinese thought, which is truly exciting!" – Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews"Li Zehou is arguably China’s most important contemporary philosopher. In a generation in which we have experienced a precipitous rise of Chinese influence on the world order, we are from a contemporary philosophical vantage point offered this sustained reflection on the evolution of this antique Chinese philosophical tradition that brings its most prominent figures and themes into the present philosophical discourse. Li Zehou reinterprets and re-conceptualizes major ideas and concepts within the broad compass of this tradition, and replete with his own philosophical speculations, makes them available as a resource for a changing world cultural order." – Roger T. Ames, Peking University, China"Presented here in English for the first time, Li Zehou’s A History of Classical Chinese Thought stands as a major work in twentieth-century Chinese philosophy, one that remains highly relevant to contemporary East-West dialogue. Lambert’s studious translation captures both the delicacy and breadth of the author’s mind, affording readers a new appreciation of what it means to ‘do’ Chinese philosophy." – Jim Behuniak, Colby College, USA"Li Zehou is the most outstanding but controversial philosopher in contemporary China. He was the youngest protagonist of the ‘aesthetic debate’ in the new born socialist China in 1950s. He came back after the Cultural Revolution with his idiosyncratic elucidation on Marxism and Kantian philosophy to become the flag bearer leading the ‘aesthetic fever’ and the ‘cultural fever’ throughout the ‘New Enlightenment’ period of 1980s. A History of Classical Chinese Thought, a major work in 1980s, exhibits Li’s unique interpretation on Chinese traditional thoughts, in particular, Confucian philosophy, which ushered the Confucian turn in China today, eventually makes Chinese philosophy resonate with Western philosophy." – Tsuyoshi Ishii, University of Tokyo, JapanTable of ContentsForeword: Translator’s Introduction Chapter 1. Re-evaluating ConfuciusChapter 2. A Preliminary Exploration of the Mohists Chapter 3. Sunzi, Laozi and Han Fei Chapter 4. Key Features of the Xunzi, Yizhuan and the Doctrine of the Mean Chapter 5. Qin and Han Dynasty Thought Chapter 6. Zhuangzi and Chan Buddhism Chapter 7. Some Thoughts on Neo-Confucianism Chapter 8. Engagement in Practical Affairs and Statecraft Chapter 9. Some Thoughts on Chinese Wisdom Afterword

    1 in stock

    £39.99

  • Taylor & Francis Performative Beauty

    1 in stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    1 in stock

    £53.19

  • The Cambridge Companion to Plato

    Cambridge University Press The Cambridge Companion to Plato

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe first edition of the Cambridge Companion to Plato (1992), edited by Richard Kraut, shaped scholarly research and guided new students for thirty years. This new edition introduces students to fresh approaches to Platonic dialogues while advancing the next generation of research. Of its seventeen chapters, nine are entirely new, written by a new generation of scholars. Six others have been thoroughly revised and updated by their original authors. The volume covers the full range of Plato''s interests, including ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, religion, mathematics, and psychology. Plato''s dialogues are approached as unified works and considered within their intellectual context, and the revised introduction suggests a way of reading the dialogues that attends to the differences between them while also tracing their interrelations. The result is a rich and wide-ranging volume which will be valuable for all students and scholars of Plato.Table of Contents1. Introduction to the study of Plato David Ebrey and Richard Kraut; 2. Plato in his context T. H. Irwin; 3. Stylometry and chronology Leonard Brandwood; 4. Plato's Socrates and his conception of philosophy Eric Brown; 5. Being good at being bad: Plato's Hippias Minor Agnes Callard; 6. Inquiry in the Meno Gail Fine; 7. Why eros? Suzanne Obdrzalek; 8. Plato on philosophy and the mysteries Gábor Betegh; 9. The unfolding account of the forms in the Phaedo David Ebrey; 10. The defense of justice in Plato's republic Richard Kraut; 11. Plato on poetic creativity: A revision Elizabeth Asmis; 12. Betwixt and between: Plato on mathematical objects Henry Mendell; 13. Another good-bye to the third man Constance C. Meinwald; 14. Plato's Sophist on false statements Michael Frede; 15. Cosmology and human nature in the Timaeus Emily Fletcher; 16. The fourfold classification and Socrates' craft analogy in the Philebus Verity Harte; 17. Law in Plato's late politics Rachana Kamtekar and Rachel Singpurwalla.

    1 in stock

    £26.99

  • Aesthetic Sustainability

    Taylor & Francis Ltd Aesthetic Sustainability

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhy do we readily dispose of some things, whereas we keep and maintain others for years, despite their obvious wear and tear? Can a greater understanding of aesthetic value lead to a more strategic and sustainable approach to product design? Aesthetic Sustainability: Product Design and Sustainable Usage offers guidelines for ways to reduce, rethink, and reform consumption. Its focus on aesthetics adds a new dimension to the creation, as well as the consumption, of sustainable products. The chapters offer innovative ways of working with expressional durability in the design process.Aesthetic Sustainability: Product Design and Sustainable Usage is related to emotional durability in the sense that the focus is on the psychological and sensuous bond between subject and object. But the subjectobject connection is based on more than emotions: aesthetically sustainable objects continuously add nourishment to human life. This book explores the difference between Trade Review"Kristine Harper has written a great book on a relevant topic we all ought to contemplate on and react to. She is well-informed of the history of aesthetic ideas and has managed to transform her knowledge innovatively into an independent, well-written and inspiring research contribution that can also be read by a broader audience." — Professor Dorthe Jørgensen, Philosophy and History of Ideas, Aarhus University, Denmark"As the window for action against irreversible climate changes is narrowing, Harper offers timely and practical advice on how, as designers and consumers, we can take responsibility for creating a sustainable future. Though informed by a deep understanding of the complexities of aesthetics and design, her book is highly accessible." — Per Galle, Associate Professor, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design."With Aesthetic Sustainability Kristine Harper shines light on the role of aesthetics and how we as humans emotionally connect with the objects that surround us in everyday life, and through that, she manages to humanize the concept of sustainability." — Hanka van der Voet, Head of MA Fashion Strategy at the ArtEZ University of the Arts, The Netherlands"Most books on sustainable design focus on the effects of design on the environment mainly in terms of recycling, reuse and repair. Kristine Harper’s book "Aesthetic Sustainability – Product Design and Sustainable Usage" introduces the additional and undervalued importance of the aesthetic qualities of sustainable design. She argues that aesthetics are key to creating sustainability that is lasting, due to the added emotional values that both appeal to and nourish the user. A factor most sustainable designers have ignored. The book discusses the interaction and relationship between the three concepts, design, sustainability and aesthetics in depth, thereby giving the reader an (almost) how-to guide to producing aesthetic, sustainable and durable design. A book to be recommended for both professional practitioners as well as students of design." — Karen Blincoe, Director Chora Connection"The book addresses a highly relevant subject from an unexpected angle. This broadens our perspectives on sustainability to be about more than reusing and recycling but also about providing aesthetic experiences. In particular, the model for an aesthetic strategy provides a useful tool, as it brings forth relevant concepts for exploring and reflecting on choices of expression and how such choices might affect the perception of a design product." Per Liljenberg Halstrøm, PhD, Postdoc and lecturer at Copenhagen School of Design and Technology and The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of DesignTable of ContentsIntroduction: Aesthetic Sustainability 1. The Pleasure of the Familiar 2. The Pleasure of the Unfamiliar 3. The Expression of Flexible Aesthetics 4. Designing the Temporal Object 5. The Magical Thing 6. The Value of Aesthetic Sustainability 7. Aesthetic Strategy

    1 in stock

    £43.99

  • Sociopolitical Aesthetics

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Sociopolitical Aesthetics

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisSince the turn of the millennium, protests, meetings, schoolrooms, reading groups and many other social forms have been proposed as artworks or, more ambiguously, as interventions that are somewhere between art and politics. This book surveys the resurgence of politicized art, tracing key currents of theory and practice, and mapping them against the dominant experience of the last decade: crisis.Drawing upon leading artists and theorists within this field including Hito Steyerl, Marina Vishmidt, Art & Language, Gregory Sholette, John Roberts and Dave Beech this book argues for a new interpretation of the relationship between socially-engaged art and neoliberalism. Kim Charnley explores the possibility that neoliberalism has destabilized the art system so that it is no longer able to absorb and neutralize dissent. As a result, the relationship between aesthetics and politics is experienced with fresh urgency and militancy.Trade ReviewSociopolitical Aesthetics is without doubt the best political analysis of art’s ‘social turn’, which it revisits through a reexamination of the contested meanings of collectivity and a re-reading of debates on aesthetics and politics within the context of neoliberalism, the globalisation of contemporary art and narratives of crisis. Charnley combines first rate art historical scholarship with razor sharp political analysis and an insider’s understanding of contemporary art to explain the rise of socially engaged art against the prevailing wisdom that art as an institution must neutralise dissent, through co-optation, absorption, incorporation, and recuperate and by turning politics into aesthetics. What if, Charnley asks, the art system has reached the limit of its ability to contain the critical practices that occupy it. * Dave Beech, Reader in Art and Marxism, University of the Arts London, UK *Table of ContentsIntroduction: In what sense ‘sociopolitical’ aesthetics? 1. Collective impurities 2. Art, economics, reproductive labour 3. Kaleidoscopic Institutions 4. Materialities of the Neoliberal State 5. Art, Ignorance and the Pedagogic Turn 6. Documentary, Post-Truth and Realism 7. Crisis, Criticism and Contemporary Art Conclusion: Autonomy, Heteronomy, Solidarity? Bibliography Index

    1 in stock

    £22.79

  • Art Politics and the Pamphleteer

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Art Politics and the Pamphleteer

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisArt, Politics and the Pamphleteer brings together a collection of text-based and visual essays, commissioned artworks and graphics. This richly illustrated book responds to the concept, aesthetics and function of the political pamphlet. It is diverse in content, interpreting the pamphlet' in the broadest terms, and encompassing a number of case studies that offer historical or specific examples of contemporary pamphleteering practice that can be seen to perform a clear political implication' or protest. Besides exploring the radical history and diverse cultures of the pamphlet, it also celebrates the rich visual rhetoric, typography and contemporary relevance of the format for both artists and activists. Contributions include an historical overview and essays by: Andy Abbott, Angeliki Avgitidu, Aziz Choudry and Désirée Rochat, David Murrieta Flores, Michelle Kempson, Pil and Galia Kollectiv, Rachel Schreiber, Jane Tormey, Gillian Whiteley; visual contributions by Gary AndTrade ReviewPassionately engaged, impressively researched and seasonably distilled ... Do not be deceived by its scrappy demeanour. Art, Politics and the Pamphleteer will serve scholars and practitioners of aesthetic engagement in social movements for decades to come. In this service, the collection’s wealth of sources, depth of critical appreciation and clarity of expression will enhance any move that builds on it. * Journal of Design History *This book entices us into the prismatic fringe of the ‘pamphlet’ and its unruly disciple the ‘pamphleteer’. True to its object, here design, text, form, matter, and affect fold in and pull apart in multiple ways. Immersed in the present, past, and emerging future of pamphleteering, the book leaves readers in no doubt that this disreputable form presents an adventure in art, politics, and publishing that is poorly served by the word ‘writing’. * Nicholas Thoburn, author of "Anti-Book: On the Art and Politics of Radical Publishing" *An absorbing critical anthology of pamphlet formats with the exhilarating whiff of something improvised, uncontrolled, it melds research, personal insights and DIY fanzine monochrome mayhem. Pamphlets are transient, oriented to the moment, but, gathered here, they receive a continued life – tactile too - amidst a spiky volley of political and artistic attitudes. This is history and its reflection, but it is also a manual for future campaigns devising a renewed common culture. * Esther Leslie, Professor of Political Aesthetics, Birkbeck, University of London, UK *Table of ContentsSee list of contributors above.

    1 in stock

    £67.50

  • Color Theory

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Color Theory

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisGiving an overview of the history of color theory from ancient and classical cultures to contemporary contexts, this book explores important critical principles and provides practical guidance on the use of color in art and design. Going beyond a simple recitation of what has historically been said about color, artist and educator Aaron Fine provides an intellectual history, critiquing prevailing Western ideas on the subject and challenging assumptions. He analyses colonialist and gendered attitudes, materialist and romanticist perspectives, spiritualist approaches to color, color in the age of reproduction, and modernist and post-modernist color strategies. Highlighted throughout are examples of the ways in which attitudes towards color have been impacted by the legacy of colonialism and are tied up with race, gender, and class. Topics covered include color models, wheels and charts, color interaction and theories of perception, with over 150 images throughout. By placing under-eTrade ReviewAlmost everyone sees color – but this might be the only general statement it is possible to make on the subject. When we begin to ask how color is seen and what it is seen to mean, what value colour has and to whom: then any notion of a consensus quickly falls apart. Aaron Fine’s rich and wide-ranging study discusses numerous theories of color, some intersecting and overlapping, others divergent and conflicting. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in how different cultures have interpreted the vibrant patterns of reflected light that almost all of us see. -- David Batchelor, artist and writer, UKColor Theory is a superb book. With impeccable scholarship it spans centuries, regions and disciplines to give the reader a panoptic account of the many guises of colour in society, art and philosophy. Fine’s prose is clear and thought-provoking. Readers new to the theory of colour will have no better guide to the subject, and those already familiar will discover many new and intriguing things. -- Mazviita Chirimuuta, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Edinburgh, UKIf you are curious about learning color theory, I suggest that you experiment with some watercolor. If you are serious about color theory, I suggest you read Aaron Fine's book. This is the intelligent and active approach to the subject. Placed on a spectrum between John Gage's heady and densely academic, historical color books and the excellent ‘semester-minded’ color texts of the like of Pentak and Zelanski, Fine's book provides toothsome material for the advanced student with opportunities for practical application and testing of theory. While many color texts have slapped a ‘global color’ chapter at the last of the book, Fine squares the world and its people into the beginning perspectives in chapter 1 and works out from there. This is, I hope, the beginning of a new generation of color writing that embraces a thoughtful, world perspective -- Scott Betz, Professor of Art, Winston-Salem State University, USATable of ContentsList of Images Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Natural Resources and Trade: Color Use in Traditional Cultures 2. Knowing at a Distance: Color Problems in Ancient Greek Thought 3. Stained Glass and Illuminations: European and Islamic Color Theory before Galileo 4. Prisms, Mirrors, and Lenses: The Newtonian Revolution 5. Romanticism and Chromophobia: The Creation of Color Theory in the 19th Century 6. The Science of the Invisible: Color Classification Systems and Spiritual Color 7. High Modern: Color Use at the Bauhaus and in Abstract Expressionism 8. Postmodern: Contemporary Directions in Color Use Glossary About the Author

    3 in stock

    £33.24

  • Aesthetics The Key Thinkers

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Aesthetics The Key Thinkers

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisAesthetics: The Key Thinkers offers a comprehensive historical overview of the field of aesthetics. Thirty specially commissioned essays introduce and explore the contributions of philosophers who have shaped the subject, from its origins in the work of the ancient Greeks to contemporary developments in the 21st century. Now thoroughly revised and updated throughout, this second edition includes new chapters on Ludwig Wittgenstein, Susanne Langer, Bernard Bolzano, as well as more coverage of post-1950 aesthetics with Frank Sibley, Stanley Cavell, Peter Kivy, Noël Carroll, Peter Lamarque, and Jerrold Levinson. The book reconstructs the history of aesthetics, clearly illustrating the most important attempts to address such crucial issues as the nature of aesthetic judgment, the status of art, and the place of the arts within society. Ideal for undergraduate students, it lays the necessary foundations for a complete and thorough understanding of this fascinating subject.Trade ReviewThis expanded edition adds to the original eighteen chapters new entries on Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, Du Bos, Batteux, Bolzano, Wittgenstein, Langer, Sibley, Kivy, Lamarque, Carroll, and Levinson, all written by leading aestheticians. Giovannelli has provided an invaluable resource, for both students and researchers in the field. * Stephen Davies, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Auckland, New Zealand *There are many guides to philosophical aesthetics on the market, but this one stands out. Featuring chapters on virtually all the major theorists of art and beauty, the slate of contributors constitutes an array of many of the best aestheticians currently active. An invaluable supplement to any historically oriented course on the problems of aesthetics, now with this second edition even more comprehensive and up-to-date. * Jerrold Levinson, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Maryland, USA *Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors Introduction, Alessandro Giovannelli (Lafayette College, USA) 1. Plato, Robert Stecker (Central Michigan University, USA) 2. Aristotle, Angela Curran (Kansas State University, USA) 3. Medieval Aesthetics, Gian Carlo Garfagnini (University of Florence, Italy) 4. Shaftesbury, Garry L. Hagberg (Bard College, USA) 5. Francis Hutcheson, Garry L. Hagberg (Bard College, USA) 6. Jean-Baptiste Du Bos and Charles Batteux, James O. Young (University of Victoria, Canada) 7. David Hume, Alan H. Goldman (College of William and Mary, USA) 8. Immanuel Kant, Elisabeth Schellekens (University of Uppsala, Sweden) 9. G. W. F. Hegel, Richard Eldridge (Swarthmore College, USA) 10. Bernard Bolzano, Paisley Livingston (Lingnan University, Hong Kong) 11. Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche, Scott Jenkins (University of Kansas, USA) 12. Benedetto Croce and Robin Collingwood, Gary Kemp (University of Glasgow, UK) 13. Roger Fry and Clive Bell, Susan Feagin (Temple University, USA) 14. John Dewey, Thomas Leddy (San José State University, USA) 15. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Kelly Dean Jolley (Auburn University, USA) 16. Martin Heidegger, Ingvild Torsen (University of Oslo, Norway) 17. Walter Benjamin and T. W. Adorno, Gerhard Richter (Brown University, USA) 18. Susanne Langer, Robert E. Innis (University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA) 19. Monroe Beardsley, Noël Carroll (City University of New York, USA) 20. Nelson Goodman, Alessandro Giovannelli (Lafayette College, USA) 21. Frank Sibley, Emily Brady (Texas A&M University, USA) 22. Richard A. Wollheim, Malcolm Budd (University College London, UK) 23. Arthur C. Danto, Sondra Bacharach (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) 24. Stanley Cavell, Malcolm Turvey (Tufts University, USA) 25. Peter Kivy, James O. Young (University of Victoria, Canada) 26. Kendall L. Walton, David Davies (McGill University, Canada) 27. Peter Lamarque, Filippo Contesi (University of Barcelona, Spain) 28. Noël Carroll, Deborah Knight (Queen’s University, Canada) 29. Jerrold Levinson, James O. Young (University of Victoria, Canada) 30. Some Contemporary Developments, Alessandro Giovannelli (Lafayette College, USA) Index

    1 in stock

    £71.25

  • Thinking Film

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Thinking Film

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisHailed as one of America''s original art forms, film has the distinctive character of crossing high and low art. But film has done more than this. According to American philosopher Stanley Cavell, film was also a place where America in the 1930s and 1940s did its thinking, a tradition that was taken up and enriched throughout world cinema. Can film indeed think? That is, can film do the work of philosophy?Following Cavell''s lead to think along the tear of the analytic-continental traditions, this book draws from both sides of the philosophical divide to reflect on this question. Spanning generations and disciplines, pondering everything from art house classics to mainstream blockbusters, Thinking Film: Philosophy at the Movies aims to fling open the doors to this conversation on all sides. Inquiring into both philosophy''s word on film and film''s word to philosophy, the interdisciplinary dialogue of this book traverses the conceptual and the particular as it considers how filmTrade ReviewFrom the groundbreaking works of Cavell and Deleuze, through contemporary philosophies of film, to a philosophical working through of particular films, this book provides a detailed guide to some of the most important philosophical work on film of the last half-century. Kearney and Littlejohn have done something remarkable here. * Joseph Westfall, Professor of Philosophy, University of Houston-Downtown, USA *Table of ContentsIntroduction – Richard Kearney and M. E. Littlejohn Part 1. Classic Philosophers on Film 1. The Thought of Movies, Stanley Cavell 2. On Cinema, Gilles Deleuze Part 2: Thinking on Films 3. Film as Philosophy and Cinematic Thinking, Robert Sinnerbrink 4. Theory, Therapy and Classic Hollywood Movies, M.E. Littlejohn 5. Missing Mothers/Desiring Daughters: Framing the Sight of Women, Naomi Scheman 6. Why is ‘Leap Year’ not a Cavellian Comedy of Remarriage?, Stephen Mulhall 7. Film and Television as Forms of Shared Experience, Sandra Laugier 8. What Does it Mean to Have A Cinematic Idea? Deleuze and Kurosawa’s Stray Dog, David Deamer 9. The Active Eye (Revisted): Toward a Phenomenology of Cinematic Movement, Vivian Sobchack 10. Rethinking Monster Movies: Men In Black, Alien Resurrection and Apocalypse Now, Richard Kearney 11. A Plural Transcendence: When Film Does Phenomenology, Anna Westin 12. I Wake up Screaming: Kansas and Beyond, Anthony Steinbock 13. Mediating Fairy Stories in Words and Images: Warring Magics in J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, Stephanie Rumpza Part 3: Thinking with Films 14. On Wim Wender’s Paris, Texas, Richard Kearney 15. On Larissa Shepitko’s The Ascent, Fanny Howe 16. On Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, Brian Treanor 17. On Sidney Lumet’s Serpico, Sam B. Girgus 18. On Antwone Fisher’s Antwone Fisher, Alberto G. Urquidez 19. On Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Our Little Sister, Paul Freaney 20. On Lars Von Trier’s The House that Jack Built, John Panteleimon Manoussakis 21. On Robert Bresson’s Diary of a Country Priest, J. E. Grefenstette 22. On Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice, Joseph S. O’Leary 23. On Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev, Patrick Hederman 24. On Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Double Life of Veronique, Joseph Kickasola 25. On Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful 8, Matthew Clemente 26. On Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, John Fardy 27. On Persichetti, Ramsey, and Rothman’s Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse, Anne M. Carpenter 28. On the Dardenne Brothers’ The Young Ahmed, Joel Mayward 29. On John Huston’s The Dead, Magnus Ferguson 30. On Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, Jason Wirth

    2 in stock

    £27.54

  • Atmospheric Architectures

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Atmospheric Architectures

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThere is fast-growing awareness of the role atmospheres play in architecture. Of equal interest to contemporary architectural practice as it is to aesthetic theory, this ''atmospheric turn'' owes much to the work of the German philosopher Gernot Böhme. Atmospheric Architectures: The Aesthetics of Felt Spaces brings together Böhme''s most seminal writings on the subject, through chapters selected from his classic books and articles, many of which have hitherto only been available in German. This is the only translated version authorised by Böhme himself, and is the first coherent collection deploying a consistent terminology. It is a work which will provide rich references and a theoretical framework for ongoing discussions about atmospheres and their relations to architectural and urban spaces. Combining philosophy with architecture, design, landscape design, scenography, music, art criticism, and visual arts, the essays together provide a key to the concepts that motivate Trade ReviewA fascinating collection of essays by the German philosopher Gernot Böhme . . . the essays are thoughtfully translated, and usefully introduced, in a way that will make Bohme’s work accessible and engaging to a wide audience. The message of the book is inspirational in its shift from the study of objects toward experience, and it will sit nicely among similarly motivated titles in Bloomsbury Academic’s impressively burgeoning architecture library. * Interstices: Journal of Architecture and Related Arts, 18 *Table of ContentsForeword: ‘Ecstasies’ by Professor Mark Dorrian (University of Edinburgh) Towards the Inside of Atmospheres: Translator’s Introduction Atmosphere, a basic concept of a new aesthetic New Aesthetics Benjamin’s aura The concept of atmosphere in Hermann Schmitz’ philosophy The ecstasies of things Making atmospheres The critical potential of an aesthetics of atmospheres Conclusion The Ecstasies of Things: Ontology and aesthetics of thingness Subjectivism in aesthetics Terminological differentiations The prevalence of the thing in ontology Life within the world of things The closure of the thing within the main ontological models Alternative thing models The Thing Conclusion: Ontology and aesthetics Material Splendour: A Contribution to the Critique of Aesthetic Economy A golden ladle Material aesthetics Material beauty Particle board Internal design and invisible aesthetics Contribution to the critique of aesthetic economy Atmospheres in Architecture Weather and feelings Architecture and felt space Atmospheres as the subject matter of architecture The perception of architecture Architecture and space The atmosphere of a city Conclusion The Presence of Living Bodies in Space Developments in architecture and art history What is the space of bodily presence? Disposition Actuality and reality Atmospheres of Human Communication The utterly familiar Radiance Actualisation and disturbance of interpersonal atmospheres Contributions Learning to Live with Atmospheres: A new Aesthetic Humanist Education Objectives of aesthetic education Schiller’s On the aesthetic education of man in a series of letters Aesthetic humanist education under the conditions of technical civilisation and aesthetic economy Atmosphere as the object and medium of aesthetic education The Grand Concert of the World Introduction Modern art and the aesthetics of atmospheres The aesthetic conquest of acoustic space Music and soundscape, or the music of the soundscape Acoustic atmospheres Conclusion The Voice in Spaces of Bodily Presence Spatial sounds The rehabilitation of the voice The voice as an articulation of bodily presence Conclusion Light and Space The phenomenology of light Cleared space The space of light Lights in space Things appearing in light Light on things Lighting The Art of Staging as a Paradigm for an Aesthetics of Atmospheres Producing atmospheres Atmosphere – a well-known but extremely vague phenomenon Aesthetics of reception and production Fantastic art/unreliable fabrication Conclusion: the art of staging Church Atmospheres The numinous and the profanization of church spaces Sacred twilight – diaphanous light Silence and the Sublime Stone and space Genius Loci Afterword: ‘Atmospheres to Think About’ by Professor David Leatherbarrow (University of Pennsylvania) References Index

    1 in stock

    £27.99

  • Robert Pippin and Film

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Robert Pippin and Film

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisRobert Pippin (1948- ) is a major figure in contemporary philosophy, having published influential work on thinkers including Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche. He is also an original thinker about and critic of film who has written books and numerous articles on canonical subjects such as the Western, Film Noir, and Hitchcock''s Vertigo. In Robert Pippin and Film, Dominic Lash demonstrates the ways that film has been crucial to Pippin''s thought on important philosophical topics such as political psychology, ethics, and self-knowledge. He also explores the implications of Pippin''s methodological commitments to clear language and to maintaining close contact with the details of the films in question. In so doing, Lash brings Pippin''s work on film to a wider audience and contributes to current debates both within film studies and beyond. This includes those concerning the relationships between film and philosophy, criticism and aesthetics, and individual subjectivity and politTrade ReviewThe work of Robert Pippin is fast becoming an indispensable reference in studies of film and philosophy. Dominic Lash provides a clear, accessible exegesis of Pippin’s ideas and examples, while also extending the discussion and offering a comparative assessment of Pippin’s place in the contemporary critical scene. -- Adrian Martin, Monash University, AustraliaFull of keen insights and subtle analysis, Lash expertly elucidates Pippin’s unique contribution to film criticism and theory from the perspective of a leading contemporary philosopher. Just as significantly, through the prism of Pippin’s deep reflections, Lash provides his own distinctive and illuminating 21st century take on the ethical and socio-political dimensions of a range of films, modes, genres, and styles. -- Daniel Yacavone, University of Edinburgh, UKRobert Pippin’s potential contribution to film philosophy and criticism has for too long gone undervalued and underexamined. This pathbreaking book corrects this oversight. Eminently readable, written in elegant prose that explains complex philosophical concepts with verve and lucidity, Robert Pippin and film is a must for newcomers to Pippin’s writing on film. Lash’s own brilliant, versatile readings of films from the Hollywood Western to European arthouse confirm the importance of taking Pippin’s work, in the author’s own words, as “a spur to further inquiry”. -- Catherine Wheatley, King's College London, UKIn Robert Pippin and Film, Dominic Lash provides provides a welcome and astute account of this philosopher and critic of cinema. Moving adroitly between careful analyses of the films Pippin discusses and the broader philosophical project that underlies his method, Lash not only shows why Pippin matters for film studies but continues the project to show how it can have new and greater relevance. This is a book that is more than a study of a philosopher of film; it is itself a compelling story about how philosophy and film might go together. -- Daniel Morgan, University of Chicago, USATable of ContentsSeries Editors’ Introduction Introduction: "I'm Just Trying to Understand the Damn Film" 1. The Subject after Modernism and the Value of Film for Philosophy 2. What Do We Call Politics? 3. Do We Know What We're Doing? Pippin on Agency 4. Film as Practical Psychology 5. Pippin and Film Studies Conclusion: On the Impossibility of Pippinian Film-Philosophy Bibliography Index

    1 in stock

    £67.50

  • Art Rebellion

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Art Rebellion

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisArt has always been central to moments of great social change. From the avant-garde to the ages of revolution, the act of rebellious creation has been crucial to bringing people and ideas together. However, in an increasingly fractured world characterised by upheaval and crisis, what role can art play in ushering in transformation?Malcolm Miles offers a guide to contemporary art and activism, setting it firmly within the context of the avant garde and its legacies in the postwar period. He explores the rise of direct action to replace representational politics in organizations like Occupy and Extinction Rebellion, and in the movements to destroy or remove statues of slavers, and finds parallels in anti-institutional art practices. By engaging with the significant theoretical innovations of the last 50 years modernism, postmodernism and contemporary critical thinking - Miles provides both an overview of political aesthetics and an introduction to how art activism works in its most memoTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction Part One: Avant-Gardes 1. Signed In Red. The First Avant-Garde 2. Blue Voids. The Modernist Avant-Garde And The Permanence Of Art Part Two: Theories and Critiques 3. Society as a Work of Art? 4. States of Exception 5. Saying The Unsayable Part Three: Critical Practices 6. After The Statues 7. Exhibiting Dissent 8. Revolution is Sublime 9. Beauty is Convulsive Bibliography Index

    1 in stock

    £20.89

  • The Digital Pandemic

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Digital Pandemic

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA refreshing approach to the dominance of technology in our contemporary lives, The Digital Pandemic, translated from Portuguese, poses fundamental questions about love, fear, connectedness, proximity, imagination and consciousness.Arguing that the pandemic has ushered in a civilizational digital shock, João Pedro Cachopo charts new channels of relatedness and communication between people through digital technologies for the foreseeable future. The transformation of human experience that began in 2020 creates a break in our sociality that Cachopo pinpoints through key themes of love, travel, study, community and art.In contrast to the growing philosophical literature on the pandemic, this bold theoretical work does not prophesy the fall of capitalism or the end of personal freedom and relationships. Instead, this book carefully investigates the advanced technology that is increasingly inextricable from our lives, using an alternative approach that avoids pessimism, while remainiTrade ReviewA marvellous meditation on the spatial and temporal reorientation brought to light by the pandemic. Covering isolation in the home, and the shock of a new daily existence that produces distinct aesthetic experiences, Cachopo explores the digital pandemic through globalization, inequality, biopolitics, technology and disaster capitalism. * Lydia Goehr, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, USA *From Agamben to Žižek, anyone interested in a sober, witty, and productive critique of the ways in which the pandemic has influenced our ways of loving, studying, traveling, coexisting, and creating should read this book. * Ana Ilievska, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer, Stanford University, USA *Among countless books and articles on the COVID-19 crisis, The Digital Pandemic stands out. It is a compelling meditation on the isolation that we have experienced. Philosophically sophisticated and yet thoroughly readable, the book offers fresh insight into the physical separation and digital proximity of life during this unpredictable pandemic. * Jay David Bolter, Wesley Chair of New Media, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA *Speaking to the urgency of our times, this is a short, incisive book that manages to slow down. Cachopo’s analysis moves the critical literature on the pandemic along by highlighting how digital media reshapes the conditions of human imagination. * Peter Szendy, Professor of Humanities and Comparative Literature, Brown University, USA *Table of ContentsPrologue: The Pandemic Is Not the Event 1. The Role of Philosophy in Times of Uncertainty 2. Questions, Hypotheses, Suspicions 3. Topology of the Imagination 4. Apocalypse Remediated 5. The Disruption of the Senses Love Travel Study Community Art Epilogue: Our World After the Pandemic Index

    1 in stock

    £15.19

  • Affect as Contamination

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Affect as Contamination

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisBringing the concept of contamination into dialogue with affect theory and bioart, Agnieszka Wolodzko urges us to rethink our relationship with ourselves, each other and other organisms. Thinking through the lens of contamination, this book provides an innovative approach to understanding the leaky, porous and visceral nature of our bodies and their endless interrelationships and, in doing so, uncovers new ways for thinking about embodiment. Affect theory has long been interested in transmission or contagion but, inspired by Spinoza and Deleuze, Affect as Contamination goes further, as contamination is concerned with the materiality of bodies and their affective encounter with other matter. This brings urgency to the notion of affect, not only for bioart that works with risky bodies but also for understanding how to practise our bodies in the age of biotechnological manipulation and governance. Using challenging and transgressive bioart projects as provocative case studiesTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Foreword 1. Affect as Contamination 2. Contaminant B like the Blood of a Horse 3. Contaminant T like a Taste of Smog 4. Contaminant O like Organs of Multibody 5. Contaminant V like a Vastal Bibliography Index

    1 in stock

    £85.00

  • Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Alone with Nature

    1 in stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    1 in stock

    £18.99

  • The Hysterical Sublime

    Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Hysterical Sublime

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisMatthew Flisfeder is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications at the University of Winnipeg. He is the author of The Symbolic, The Sublime, and Slavoj Žižek's Theory of Film (2012) and co-editor of Žižek and Media Studies: A Reader (2014).

    1 in stock

    £80.75

  • Sinister Resonance

    Continuum Publishing Corporation Sinister Resonance

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisSinister Resonance begins with the premise that sound is a haunting, a ghost, a presence whose location is ambiguous and whose existence is transitory. The intangibility of sound is uncanny - a phenomenal presence in the head, at its point of source and all around. The close listener is like a medium who draws out substance from that which is not entirely there.The history of listening must be constructed from the narratives of myth and fiction, ''silent'' arts such as painting, the resonance of architecture, auditory artefacts and nature. In such contexts, sound often functions as a metaphor for mystical revelation, forbidden desires, formlessness, the unknown, and the unconscious. As if reading a map of hitherto unexplored territory, Sinister Resonance deciphers sounds and silences buried within the ghostly horrors of Arthur Machen, Shirley Jackson, Charles Dickens, M.R. James and Edgar Allen Poe, Dutch genre painting from Rembrandt to Vermeer, artists as diverse as FrancisTrade ReviewIt's as if contemporary culture has developed a case of hyperacusis in the form of Toop's 'perpetual vigilance' as he haunts the permeable boundary between the extremities of sound and the fullness of silence. Ruminating on its unmatched power of evocation, Toop manifests sound after transient sound from the pages of this 'silent art', increasing awareness of our own auditory acuity as the walls between inner and outer space collapse around our ears. - David SylvianDavid Toop is the brilliant voyager of our sonic century, for whom music is a map of our dreams. With Sinister Resonance he takes us yet farther and deeper into coordinates uncharted but remembered all the same, beyond the horizon where the listener meets the listened. - Steve EricksonFor starters, Toop hauls out his 233 note Jaws-Harp and plays us ancient Siren's songs, Bloom's farts, Munch's round-the-world scream, the surfaces of Ad Reinhardt's paintings, Virginia Woolf's brooding interiors, Lynch's scary foley designs over an Akio Suzuki inaudible installation, in a seamless, erudite and virtuoso literary performance of the sound of sound sounding...yeah, a veritable sonic Tsunami. For anyone looking for the ultimate "lost chord," this is the place to find it! - Alvin CurranIt's all about a sound that no one could hear except those who might listen. And for ears that [can] dream.........what a noise !!! -Brothers QuayNo work on the subject of listening is as erudite, thoughtful, wide-ranging, and readable as Sinister Resonance. Toop's previous books revealed the astonishing breadth of his musical tastes and the immensity of his sonic world. Here he extends his purview to literature and art, treating paintings, sculptures, novels, and poems as objects with a spectral sonic life discernible through sensitive looking and listening. The result is a profound and thrilling meditation on the senses and their interrelationships that vastly surpasses fashionable but facile conceptions of "synaesthesia." - Christoph CoxMention in the New Titles section. The Wire, 1st June 2010. "This is not just a book about the uncanny history of sound, but about the hidden affinities between eras and art forms. The patterns it divines make Sinister Resonance something like a sonically minded companion to Marina Warner's Phantasmagoria, on the haunted nature of photography and cinema." - The Wire'Toop has provided a valuable companion to new departures in the academic study of sound.' -- Times Higher Education Supplement'This fourth in Toop's series of meditations turns out to be the most illuminating yet.' -- The Independent on Sunday‘Scarily erudite but ultimately enthralling.' -- guardian.co.ukSinister Resonance succeeds in arguing for the centrality of sound to emotional, psychological, social and political experience. This marks a welcome break from conventional aesthetic analysis. -- Radical PhilosophyIncredibly well researched, Sinister Resonance is a surprisingly thought-provoking work of pop-culture analysis. -- Alarm MagazineTable of ContentsSection one: Aerial; 1. Drowned by voices; 2. Each echoing opening; each muffled closure; 3. Dark senses; 4. Writhing sigla; 5. The jagged dog; Section two: Vessels and Volumes; 6. Act of silence; 7. Art of silence; 8. A conversation piece; Section three: Spectral; 9. Chair creaks, but no one sits there; Section four: Interior Resonance; 10. Snow falling on snow; Coda: Distant Voices; Acknowledgements; Notes; Index.

    1 in stock

    £23.99

  • Understanding Music

    Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Understanding Music

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisWith Understanding Music and The Aesthetics of Music (1997) Roger Scruton set a new standard of rigour and seriousness in the philosophy of music. This collection of wide-ranging essays covers all aspects of the theory and practice of music, showing the significance of music as an expression of the moral life. The book is split into two parts, the first is devoted to the aesthetics and theory of music and the second consists of critical studies of individual composers, thinkers and works including essays on Mozart, Wagner, Beethoven''s Ninth, Janácek & Schoenberg, Szymanowski and Adorno. Understanding Music will appeal to specialists in philosophy and musicology and also to music lovers who wish to find deeper meaning in this mysterious art. The Bloomsbury Revelations edition includes a new preface from the author.Trade ReviewThe prolific philosopher turns his attention back to music, exploring the fundamental elements that make a great piece. Ranging from Wagner to Hoagy Carmichael and even a final chapter on 'the disaster of pop', this is trademark, provocotive Scruton. * The Bookseller *As a welcome addition to Roger Scruton's continuing canon of fascinating works on the nature and meaning of music, this short, dense book amply supports his genuine and lifelong belief that aesthetic contemplation offers the key to proper understanding of motivation and meaning, not just in ourselves, but in everything around us. * Literary Review *Illuminating ... touching ... much to inspire. Anyone who is capable of being deeply moved by music should read it. * BBC Music Magazine *Roger Scruton presents a depth of knowledge and understanding that could make listening to a symphony all the more meaningful ... worthwhile for those who would like a deeper relationship with classical music. * Good Book Guide *Aesthetic arguments are well summarised, disagreements presented very largely without querulousness; [Scruton] ... avoids shrill dogmatism. And while he makes substantial reference to music theory, he does so without the cack-handedness of many non-specialist music students. * Classical Music *Table of ContentsPreface Part I 1 Introduction 2 Sounds 3 Wittgenstein on music 4 Movement 5 Expression 6 Rhythm Part II 7 My Mozart 8 Beethoven's Ninth Symphony 9 The trial of Richard Wagner 10 A first shot at The Ring 11 True Authority: Janacek, Schoenberg and us 12 Thoughts on Szymanowski 13 Why read Adorno? Bibliography

    4 in stock

    £22.79

  • Practising with Deleuze

    Edinburgh University Press Practising with Deleuze

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisSix authors two fine artists, a dancer, a creative writer, a designer and a philosopher participate in the first systematic reading of Gilles Deleuze's mature philosophy through the lens of creative practice. It is focused around five key aspects of creative production: forming, framing, experiencing, encountering and practising.

    1 in stock

    £22.79

  • Sublime Art

    Edinburgh University Press Sublime Art

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisStephen Zepke shows how the idea of sublime art waxes and wanes in the work of Jean-Francois Lyotard, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Jacques Derrida, Jacques Ranciere and the recent Speculative Realism movement.

    1 in stock

    £26.09

  • Deleuze Guattari and the Art of Multiplicity

    Edinburgh University Press Deleuze Guattari and the Art of Multiplicity

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis collection of essays from a range of philosophers and art practitioners offers tools through which we can action change across art and philosophy, across a range of media and across the theory/practice divide.

    1 in stock

    £81.00

  • The Fundamental Field

    Edinburgh University Press The Fundamental Field

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisInspired by poets from John Donne to Hlderlin, and philosophers from Nietzsche to Heidegger,Scottish poet Kenneth White and Australian philosopher Jeff Malpasreflect onthe world, place, narrative, language and politics. The volume closes with a set of three new philosophical poems by White.

    1 in stock

    £16.14

  • Lady Justice

    Edinburgh University Press Lady Justice

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisDismembering and remembering the sensual and spiritual body of Lady Justice in this wholly novel interpretation of the optical allegory of Iustitia.

    1 in stock

    £81.00

  • Bookshelf

    Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Bookshelf

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Every shelf is different and every bookshelf tells a different story. One bookshelf can creak with character in a bohemian coffee shop and another can groan with gravitas in the Library of Congress. Writer and historian Lydia Pyne finds bookshelves to be holders not just of books but of so many other things: values, vibes, and verbs that can be contained and displayed in the buildings and rooms of contemporary human existence. With a shrewd eye toward this particular moment in the history of books, Pyne takes the reader on a tour of the bookshelf that leads critically to this juncture: amid rumors of the death of book culture, why is the life of the bookshelf in full bloom?Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.Trade ReviewAn absorbing meditation on an object of lasting cultural significance. * Sydney Morning Herald *As the page is to the book, so is the bookshelf to our culture, that is the lesson of this delightful and stimulating essay. Anything can happen on a page, so too, we learn, a bookshelf partakes of that astonishing range of possibility, circumscribed only by rectilinear geometry, a mode nonpareil of storing, displaying, distributing, assembling, categorizing and contextualizing knowledge. Even virtually, it continues unabashed, as a metaphor, like browsing. A lovely glimpse of the joy and scale of human culture endeavor, its forms and functions, contexts and containers. * Richard Nash, Publisher, Red Lemonade *Table of ContentsIntroduction. Bookshelf: What’s In a Name? Chapter 1. From Medieval to Modern: Bookshelves in Chains Chapter 2. The Things that Go On a Bookshelf Chapter 3. Bookshelves That Move Chapter 4. Bookshelves as Signs and Symbols Chapter 5. The Life Cycle of a Bookshelf Conclusion. The Plural Futures of Bookshelves Bibliography Acknowledgements

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • Personal Stereo

    Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Personal Stereo

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. When the Sony Walkman debuted in 1979, people were enthralled by the novel experience it offered: immersion in the music of their choice, anytime, anywhere. But the Walkman was also denounced as self-indulgent and antisocialthe quintessential accessory for the me generation. In Personal Stereo, Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow takes us back to the birth of the device, exploring legal battles over credit for its invention, its ambivalent reception in 1980s America, and its lasting effects on social norms and public space. Ranging from postwar Japan to the present, Tuhus-Dubrow tells an illuminating story about our emotional responses to technological change. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.Trade ReviewA compelling and expertly researched study of the Sony Walkman. * New Books Network *An honest & deft entry in [Bloomsbury's] Object Lessons series. * Music Book Review *In 2017, having music pumped into your ears through headphones while existing in public is a thoroughly normal thing to do. But as Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow outlines in the delightful Personal Stereo, being able to do so is a relatively recent development ... Her thoughtfulness imbues this chronicle of a once-modern, now-obsolete device with a mindfulness that isn’t often seen in writing about technology. * Pitchfork (named one of Pitchfork's favorite books of 2017) *[A] careful, astute study. * The Wire *Tuhus-Dubrow illuminates a web of stories connected to the Walkman, her references as ubiquitous as its users ... After finishing Personal Stereo, I found myself wondering about the secret lives of every object around me, as if each device were whispering, “Oh, I am much so more than meets the eye”... Tuhus-Dubrow is a master researcher and synthesizer. It would appear that she has left no Walkman-related stone unturned ... Tuhus-Dubrow [is] an elegant, engaging storyteller who unpacks complex social and political concepts with clarity and panache ... Personal Stereo is a joy to read. * Los Angeles Review of Books *Personal Stereo is loving, wise, and exuberant, a moving meditation on nostalgia and obsolescence. Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow writes as beautifully about Georg Simmel and Allan Bloom as she does about Jane Fonda and Metallica. Now I understand why I still own the taxicab-yellow Walkman my grandmother gave me in 1988. * Nathaniel Rich, author of Odds Against Tomorrow *Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow’s affectionate history traces the Walkman out of an electronics workshop in bombed-out postwar Tokyo to global icon of solitary, un-networked bliss. * Sasha Issenberg, author of The Sushi Economy *Personal Stereo explores the development of the Walkman, its impact on our culture, and its legacy, not only highlighting its time as a status symbol but discussing its surprising resurgence today as part of the analog revolution. Plus Tuhus-Dubrow shares her own personal memories of Walkman ownership, offering a nice intimate touch to a book full of fun pop-culture trivia and anecdotes. Perhaps the best part of Personal Stereo was seeing parallels between reactions to the Walkman and recent complaints about smartphone ownership. (Particularly regarding selfishness and isolation.) Observing these cyclical historical undercurrents, large and small, is both entertaining and engaging. You might have preferred your iPod, but there’s no doubt the Walkman was worthy of a tribute and brief history like this. * San Francisco Book Review *Tuhus-Dubrow’s valuable historical and pop cultural analysis provides a genuine yet evenhanded portrait of all that has been loved and lost in the way the personal stereo has impacted public spaces and social communication. Personal Stereo is a clear-eyed study on the way this technology continues to disrupt, for better and for worse. * PopMatters *A fascinating and informative, yet also nostalgic, look at the rise and fall of the personal stereo ... The author has worked hard to make this book readable, accessible and thorough in its enquiry ... Tuhus-Dubrow manages to keep the feel of the book light and engaging. It has enough information in to feel academically researched, yet is written in an easily accessible fashion ... Although I enjoyed the final 'Nostalgia' section, I think anybody with an interest in design, business, technology, or social and cultural history, will find the first section, 'Novelty', an interesting delve into the development of Sony as a company, its founders, and its famous Walkman. Five stars. * The Bookbag *Personal Stereo accomplishes a lot in the short time it takes to read. It reminds readers (or informs them) of just how revolutionary the Walkman experience was, and how much it anticipated today's conversations about technology and personal space. * The Current *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Novelty 2: Norm 3: Nostalgia Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Index

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • Email

    Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Email

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisRandy Malamud is Regents' Professor of English at Georgia State University in Atlanta. He is the author of ten books, including Reading Zoos (1998) and An Introduction to Animals and Visual Culture (2012). He has written for HuffPost, Salon, Film Quarterly, Chicago Sun-Times, and the Los Angeles Times and has appeared on CNN, BBC, and NPR.Trade ReviewThis involving and innovative volume's aggregation of ephemera will no doubt delight the social historian ... The snappy prose and keen engagement help pull together the text into an engaging and successful snapshot of collective experience. * Times Higher Education *In this slyly subversive little book, part rhapsody, part diatribe, Randy Malamud can’t leave e-mail alone. His exuberant rants and riffs give us a new perspective on our infernal electronic inboxes. A fast, funny, compulsive read. * Mikita Brottman, Professor of Humanistic Studies, Maryland Institute College of Art, USA, and author of An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere (2018) and The Maximum Security Book Club: Reading Literature in a Men's Prison (2016) *Table of ContentsPre-mail Email Compose Subject Attachment Inbox Send Reply-All Delete Junk Out of Office: After Email Postscript: How to Write and Read an Email Index

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • Coffee

    Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Coffee

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisDinah Lenney is a member of the core faculty of the Bennington Writing Seminars, and the author or editor of four books, including The Object Parade (2014). Her essays and reviews have been published in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post among other publications.Trade ReviewLenney’s book, part of the publisher’s Object Lessons series about the ‘hidden lives of ordinary things,’ is a fluid, involving memoir of her experience of coffee, a pleasurable tour of her memories, reflections, and research on the topic … The result is a winning combination of enthusiasm and naïveté, which allows the reader to explore recent research about coffee and its physiological effects, the more esoteric corners of coffee connoisseurship and fandom, and the cultural attitudes to coffee shown by her friends and family without ever feeling lectured ... This deft memoir-cum-meditation is as savory and stimulating as its subject. * Los Angeles Review of Books *Where Lenney really shines… is in her ability to interweave environmental, sociopolitical, and cultural concerns with reflections on time, womanhood, and family. Her lyrical prose is as invigorating as a strong jolt of caffeine. * Alta *True to its subject, this book is a real stimulant: the prose is caffeinated, zany yet serene and habit-forming. Chock full of odd facts, poignant autobiographical vignettes, comic touches, and wistful philosophical insights, it is a delicious brew, all in all, and as fine and accomplished an example of that contemporary form, the extended mosaic essay, as we are likely to encounter. * Phillip Lopate, author of To Show and To Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction (2013) *If there's ever been a more perfect pairing of author and subject matter, I can't recall it. Dinah Lenney was meant to write this book. I could say this is not just a book about coffee, but we knew that already. So what I will say is that it's about all that coffee represents; being awake, being cozy, being able to savor what's in your cup as well as what's in your life. Lenney's mastery of these lessons comes from her mastery of the fleeting moment, the quiet revelation, the unlikely holiness of even the most ordinary objects and everyday rituals. She's more than an observer of the world in her midst, she's a precise and careful excavator of the ground beneath her feet. How lucky we are to dig alongside her. * Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion (2014) and The Problem With Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars (2019) *An expert brew of research, memoir, and introspection, this lovely and satisfying book delivers many pleasures also found in a perfect cup of espresso. Reading Dinah Lenney, one's brain and heart feel quickened. Lenney's writing throughout is moving, intimate, eager, graceful, discerning, tender. The generosity of her self-examining candor and the warmth with which she admits us into her life play off beautifully against her natural reporter's curiosity. And happily, the salutary effects of Lenney's excellent prose last much longer than the buzz of mere caffeine. * Amy Gerstler, author of Scattered at Sea (2015) *Dinah Lenney is a treasure. The acuity of her eye, the precision of her voice: Reading Coffee is like savoring the notes, the nuances, of a finely brewed cup. Energizing and engaging, full of deft and unexpected narrative turns, this book reminds us of the depths inherent in the simplest pleasures, as well as the ongoing relationships and daily interactions that add up to a life. * David L. Ulin, author of Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles (2015) *Reading Dinah Lenney's frenetic ditty on coffee mimics the thing itself: one tries to quit it, but can't; one tries to put it down, only to pick it up again for stimulus, for agitation, for one more lasting epiphany! * Mark Yakich, Gregory F. Curtin, S.J., Distinguished Professor of English at Loyola University New Orleans, USA, and author of Poetry: A Survivor’s Guide (Bloomsbury, 2015) and Spiritual Exercises (2019) *Table of ContentsPrologue 1. The Impossibility of the Task 2. My Mother Is Coming, My Mother Is Coming The Questionnaire 3. Coffee-Milk From the Coffee Diaries #1 4. My Emerging Palate A Coffee Story (Third-Hand) 5. What We Talk About When We Talk About Coffee (Teresa Was Right) 6. Coffee in Brooklyn 7. Twenty-Two Hands... A Coffee Story (First-Hand) Rules Shmules (Just a Few, in No Particular Order) These Things About Coffee Are True From the Coffee Diaries #2 8. Serious Business 9. Shouldn’t Coffee Taste Like Coffee? (If You Say So) 10. Coffee in Paris 11. Extending the Metaphor 12. All the Things You Are 13. The Power of Suggestion 14. One More Prompt 15. Am I Blue From the Coffee Diaries #3 16. A Word About Tea A Riddle (Excellent Advertising) From the Coffee Diaries #4 17. Reunion Coffee and My Father From the Coffee Diaries #5 From the Coffee Diaries #6 18. Coffee and Catastrophe From the Coffee Diaries #7 19. Coffee in Echo Park 20. Coffee and the Jews Coffee and Dad 21. The Widow 22. Altered States From the Coffee Diaries #8 From the Coffee Diaries #9 From the Coffee Diaries #10 Epilogue Acknowledgements My Coffee Book Fort (Further Reading) Index

    1 in stock

    £9.49

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