Description
Book SynopsisThe main purpose of this book is to explicate the problematic relationship between the heterogeneity of what is experienced as beautiful and the homogeneity of the conceptualization of that experience, or attempt at such a conceptualization in the era of modern philosophy. While the heterogeneity of what is experienced as beautiful was permitted, and indeed celebrated, in the dominant ancient conceptionfor example, in the Symposium and Phaedrus of Platothe need for homogenization in the later appropriation of Plato and in the Enlightenment period relegated the beautiful to the privileged domain of artworks. In her analysis Agnes Heller provides a unique and significant emphasis on the original ''life content'' of the experience of the beautiful, which becomes lost in the modern system of the arts. This book details the history of the concept of the beautiful, starting with what Agnes Heller distinguishes between the ''warm'' metaphysics of beauty and the ''cold'' oneinspired by Plato''
Trade ReviewHeller’s text is an impressive interpretation of a very particular slice of aesthetic theory. . . . The text is especially oriented towards specialists in philosophical aesthetics or critical theory, and thus would be a welcome addition to any academic library. Those working in theological aesthetics may. . . find great value in its presentation, particularly in the introductory essay by Morgan. * Catholic Books Review *
Agnes Heller's voice resounds in this pedagogic journey through the history of philosophical conceptions of the beautiful. Her choice of philosophical theories follows a continental strain, from Plato through Hume, Burke, Kant, and Hegel, to Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin and Adorno. Her interpretations are original, offering us new insight to her philosophy as a whole and into a world that many claim has no beauty left within it. She engages the pessimistic conclusion deeply but ultimately surpasses it, persuasively and without sentimentality. -- Lydia Goehr, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Columbia University
Beautifully narrated, abundant in aphoristic formulations and original thoughts, this book is an engaging biography of the concept of the beautiful from its birth in Plato to its flourishing in Kant and Hegel and to its fragmentation in Benjamin and Adorno. As Heller compellingly argues, the experience of the beautiful can, and perhaps should, lead to a transformation and fulfillment of the human being in her quest for a good life. -- Dmitri Nikulin, Professor of Philosophy, New School for Social Research
Table of ContentsPreface Editor’s Essay The Concept of the Beautiful, by Agnes Heller Introduction: What Went Wrong with the Concept of the Beautiful? Chapter 1: The Platonic Concept of the Beautiful Chapter 2: Enlightenment, or the This-Worldly Concept of the Beautiful Chapter 3: Kant's Concept of the Beautiful Chapter 4: Departure and Arrival: Hegel's Adventure Chapter 5: The Fragmentation of the Concept of the Beautiful
