Beyond Aesthetics: Philosophical Essays [Paperback]

Noël Carroll (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521786568 | ISBN-13: 978-0521786560 | Publication Date: April 30, 2001 | Edition: 1

Beyond Aesthetics brings together philosophical essays addressing art and related issues by one of the foremost philosophers of art at work today. Countering conventional aesthetic theories--those maintaining that authorial intention, art history, morality and emotional responses are irrelevant to the experience of art--Noël Carroll argues for a more pluralistic and commonsensical view in which all of these factors can play a legitimate role in our encounter with art works. The book explores works of high culture and the avant-garde, as well as works of popular culture, jokes, horror novels, and suspense films.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Beyond Aesthetics is but the latest in a series of important works in which Carroll undertakes to expose the shortcomings of traditional and conventional modes of interpretation and appreciation." Journal of Aesthetic Education

Book Description

Beyond Aesthetics brings together philosophical essays addressing art and related issues by one of the foremost philosophers of art at work today. Countering conventional aesthetic theories--those maintaining that authorial intention, art history, morality and emotional responses are irrelevant to the experience of art--Noël Carroll argues for a more pluralistic and commonsensical view in which all of these factors can play a legitimate role in our encounter with art works. The book explores works of high culture and the avant-garde, as well as works of popular culture, jokes, horror novels, and suspense films.

Product Details

• Paperback: 468 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (April 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521786568
• ISBN-13: 978-0521786560
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,079,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good argument against the Intentional Fallacy notion, December 23, 2008

By 

Michael A Neulander "Political Philosophy" (VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beyond Aesthetics: Philosophical Essays (Paperback)

I read this book for a graduate seminar on the philosophy of art. An interesting facet of literature is how fiction is intentionally used by an author to introduce and argue non-fictional ideas and theories. This case in point is examined by Noël Carroll in his book "Beyond Aesthetics." Carroll astutely argues that if the "intentional fallacy" argument rests on the premise that "all literature is fictional," then this notion is problematic. Carroll observes that there are plenty of non-fictional passages in fictional books that authors insert to espouse philosophical or scientific theories, and that fiction is sometimes used as a "vehicle" to carry these ideas to the reader that they would ordinarily have a hard time getting out into the public in a "dry" treatise. Good examples of this notion are the novels written by Ayn Rand. Rand intentionally used several of her novels such as, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, both popular works of fiction, to espouse her libertarian philosophical theory of "objectivism." In addition, Carroll understands the interests that readers have, namely the "conversational interests" they have in "communion" with or "communicating" with the author through reading the text. Carroll wisely perceives that readers have a conversational interest in literature; a conversation of wanting to understand what the author is communicating. Thus, Carroll correctly argues, "We want to understand the author, even if that will lead to rejecting his or her point of view."

I recommend this work for anyone interested in philosophy, philosophy of art, and textual criticism.