Surface and Depth: Dialectics of Criticism and Culture

Shusterman, Richard

ISBN 10: 0801486831 / ISBN 13: 9780801486838

Editore: Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 2002

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Spine not creased. 230 x 150 mm. xvi, 288 pp. An examination of the gap between art and life, and the artistic, aesthetic and philosophical problems this question raises. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Codice articolo 75637

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Surface and Depth: Dialectics of Criticism and Culture
• Editore: Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London
• Data di pubblicazione: 2002
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0801486831
• ISBN 13: 9780801486838
• Rilegatura: Paperback
• Condizione: Very Good
• Tipo di libro: Book
• Cataloghi dei venditori:
  • Politics, Philosophy, Economics

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

A paradox of surface and depth pervades the field of aesthetics. How can art's surface meanings and qualities be properly appreciated without understanding the cultural context that shapes their creation and perception? But exploring such underlying cultural conditions challenges the perception of thosequalities and meanings of aesthetic surface that constitute the captivating power of art. If aesthetics deals with both surface and depth, impassioned immediacy yet also critical distance of judgment, how can this doubleness be held together in one philosophical vision?

In his new book, Richard Shusterman explores the dialectics of surface and depth by examining key issues in the philosophy of art and culture—from the logic of interpretation and evaluation to the roots of taste and convention, from the meanings of aesthetic purity and immediacy to the role of nature, theory, and history in our experience and understanding of art. In treating these topics, Shusterman combines the methods of analytic philosophy, critical theory, and poststructualism to arrive at new positions, displaying the philosophical versatility, originality of vision, and graceful, accessible writing that have become his trademark. Surface and Depth is crowned by a new definition of art as dramatization.

A paradox of surface and depth pervades the field of aesthetics. How can art's surface meanings and qualities be properly appreciated without understanding the cultural context that shapes their creation and perception? But exploring such underlying cultural conditions challenges the perception of thosequalities and meanings of aesthetic surface that constitute the captivating power of art. If aesthetics deals with both surface and depth, impassioned immediacy yet also critical distance of judgment, how can this doubleness be held together in one philosophical vision?In his new book, Richard Shusterman explores the dialectics of surface and depth by examining key issues in the philosophy of art and culture—from the logic of interpretation and evaluation to the roots of taste and convention, from the meanings of aesthetic purity and immediacy to the role of nature, theory, and history in our experience and understanding of art. In treating these topics, Shusterman combines the methods of analytic philosophy, critical theory, and poststructualism to arrive at new positions, displaying the philosophical versatility, originality of vision, and graceful, accessible writing that have become his trademark. Surface and Depth is crowned by a new definition of art as dramatization.

Informazioni sull'autore

Richard Shusterman is Professor of Philosophy at Temple University and the Collège International de Philosophie. His books include Performing Live: Aesthetic Alternatives for the Ends of Art (also from Cornell), Pragmatist Aesthetics, and Practicing Philosophy.