A History of Six Ideas: An Essay in Aesthetics (Melbourne International Philosophy Series (5))

The history of aesthetics, like the histories of other sciences, may be treated in a two-fold manner: as the history of the men who created the field of study, or as the history of the questions that have been raised and resolved in the course of its pursuit. The earlier History of Aesthetics (3 volumes, 1960-68, English-language edition 1970-74) by the author of the present book was a history of men, of writers and artists who in centuries past have spoken up concerning beauty and art, form and crea­ tivity. The present book returns to the same subject, but treats it in a different way: as the history of aesthetic questions, concepts, theories. The matter of the two books, the previous and the present, is in part the same; but only in part: for the earlier book ended with the 17th century, while the present one brings the subject up to our own times. And from the 18th century to the 20th much happened in aesthetics; it was only in that period that aesthetics achieved recognition as a separate science, received a name of its own, and produced theories that early scholars and artists had never dreamed of. Front Matter....Pages I-XIII Introduction....Pages 1-10 Art: History of the Concept....Pages 11-49 Art: History of Classification....Pages 50-72 Art: History of the Relation of Art to Poetry....Pages 73-120 Beauty: History of the Concept....Pages 121-152 Beauty: History of The Category....Pages 153-198 Beauty: The Dispute between Objectivism and Subjectivism....Pages 199-219 Form: History of One Term and Five Concepts....Pages 220-243 Creativity: History of the Concept....Pages 244-265 Mimesis: History of the Relation of Art to Reality....Pages 266-289 Mimesis: History of the Relation of Art to Nature and Truth....Pages 290-309 The Aesthetic Experience: History of the Concept....Pages 310-338 Conclusion....Pages 339-348 Back Matter....Pages 349-383 This book explores the history of aesthetic questions, concepts, and theories from the 18th to 20th centuries