Being for Beauty - Aesthetic Agency and Value

For centuries, philosophers have identified beauty with what brings pleasure. Dominic McIver Lopes challenges this interpretation by offering an entirely new theory of beauty - that beauty engages us in action, in concert with others, in the context of social networks - and sheds light on why aesthetic engagement is crucial for quality of life.

List of contents

• Part I


• 1: Beings for Beauty


• 2: Getting Practical


• Part II


• 3: To Seize upon the Applause of the Heart


• 4: Six Degrees of Separation


• Part III


• 5: Strength and Warranties of Skill


• 6: Infrastructures of Aesthetic Agency


• 7: Hundred Mile Aesthetics


• Part IV


• 8: By Happy Alchemy of Mind


• 9: Endless to Dispute


• 10: Beauty, Naturally


• Part V


• 11: Getting Personal


• 12: Building Better Aesthetic Agents

About the author

Dominic McIver Lopes FRSC is Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia and author of six books and a series of papers that examine the meaning and values of images, technology in the arts, and the nature of art and the arts. His current work looks beyond the arts to understand the human importance of our aesthetic practices.

Summary

For centuries, philosophers have identified beauty with what brings pleasure. Dominic McIver Lopes challenges this interpretation by offering an entirely new theory of beauty - that beauty engages us in action, in concert with others, in the context of social networks - and sheds light on why aesthetic engagement is crucial for quality of life.

Additional text

[an] elegantly argued book ... This is an excellent addition to the literature on aesthetics

Product details

• Authors: Lopes , Dominic McIver Lopes, Dominic Mciver (Professor of Philosophy Lopes, Lopes Dominic McIver
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2021
• EAN: 9780192855725
• ISBN: 978-0-19-285572-5
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Antiques; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; Theory of art, PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, PHILOSOPHY / Aesthetics, ART / Criticism & Theory, Ethics & moral philosophy, Philosophy: aesthetics, Ethics and moral philosophy