A Philosophy of Beauty: Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art

Author:   Michael B. Gill
Publisher:   Princeton University Press
ISBN:  

9780691226613


Pages:   248
Publication Date:   01 November 2022
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
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A Philosophy of Beauty: Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art


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Overview

An engaging account of how Shaftesbury revolutionized Western philosophy At the turn of the eighteenth century, Anthony Ashley Cooper, the third Earl of Shaftesbury (16711713), developed the first comprehensive philosophy of beauty to be written in English. It revolutionized Western philosophy. In A Philosophy of Beauty, Michael Gill presents an engaging account of how Shaftesbury's thought profoundly shaped modern ideas of nature, religion, morality, and art-and why, despite its long neglect, it remains compelling today. Before Shaftesbury's magnum opus, Charactersticks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711), it was common to see wilderness as ugly, to associate religion with fear and morality with unpleasant restriction, and to dismiss art as trivial or even corrupting. But Shaftesbury argued that nature, religion, virtue, and art can all be truly beautiful, and that cherishing and cultivating beauty is what makes life worth living. And, as Gill shows, this view had a huge impact on the development of natural religion, moral sense theory, aesthetics, and environmentalism. Combining captivating historical details and flashes of humor, A Philosophy of Beauty not only rediscovers and illuminates a fascinating philosopher but also offers an inspiring reflection about the role beauty can play in our lives.

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael B. Gill
Publisher:   Princeton University Press
Imprint:   Princeton University Press
ISBN:  

9780691226613


ISBN 10:   069122661
Pages:   248
Publication Date:   01 November 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

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Reviews

"""Erudite and beautifully written. . . . Gill gives us a marvelous book that is engaging and thoughtful about what constitutes beauty and why we need it.""---Lee Trepanier, The Russell Kirk Center"


"""A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year"" ""Erudite and beautifully written. . . . Gill gives us a marvelous book that is engaging and thoughtful about what constitutes beauty and why we need it.""---Lee Trepanier, The Russell Kirk Center"


Author Information

Michael B. Gill is professor of philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Humean Moral Pluralism and The British Moralists on Human Nature and the Birth of Secular Ethics.

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