Art and Embodiment: From Aesthetics to Self-Consciousness [Hardcover]

Paul Crowther (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198239963 | ISBN-13: 978-0198239963 | Publication Date: August 26, 1993

In his Critical Aesthetics and Postmodernism, Paul Crowther argued that art and aesthetic experiences have the capacity to humanize. In Art and Embodiment he develops this theme in much greater depth, arguing that art can bridge the gap between philosophy's traditional striving for generality and completeness, and the concreteness and contingency of humanity's basic relation to the world. As the key element in his theory, he proposes an ecological definition of art. His strategy involves first mapping out and analyzing the logical boundaries and ontological structures of the aesthetic domain. He then considers key concepts from this analysis in the light of a tradition in Continental philosophy (notably the work of Kant, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Hegel) which--by virtue of the philosophical significance that it assigns to art--significantly anticipates the ecological conception. On this basis, Crowther is able to give a full formulation of his ecological definition. Art, in making sensible or imaginative material into symbolic form, harmonizes and conserves what is unique and what is general in human experience. The aesthetic domain answers basic needs intrinsic to self-consciousness itself, and art is the highest realization of such needs. In the creation and reception of art the embodied subject is fully at home with his or her environment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"His arguments are lucid, clearly stated, and, above all, absorbing...a welcome contribution to a subject area of philosophy which straddles many disciplines....Students of the visual arts and of their theory would do well to verse themselves in this kind of work."--The Philosophical Quarterly

"Art and Embodiment must be counted a philosophical success not just because its central arguments stimulate a good deal of critical conjecture, but also because this volume of essays operates both intensively and extensively....By forcing the readers to expand the steps of his reasoning, Crowther awakes the philosophical imagination of his readers prompting them to engage with the subject-matter. Such engagement is surely the point of philosophical discourse and in this respect Crowther succeeds very well....If Nietzsche marked his approval with the phrase da capo (once more), Crowther's text is worthy of the hermeneutic plaudit `yet more.'--British Journal of Aesthetics

About the Author

Paul Crowther is a Professor of Philosophy at University of Central Lancashire.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 26, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198239963
• ISBN-13: 978-0198239963
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,204,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete, May 3, 2004

By 

sorrel2 "sorrel2" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art and Embodiment: From Aesthetics to Self-Consciousness (Paperback)

if i had time i would sit and write a beautiful moving essay on crowther's opus. unfortunately, i would rather spend that time developing my thesis methodology...point being, crowther's book was definitively the best book i read as a young person. i found it riveting and revelatory - although not for those who eschew challenge. i read crowther's book with a dictionary next to me - and wrote copious notes in the margins. but, then i was only 19 and in love with aesthetics. read it. it will change less of how you think about art but more about how you think in general.