Overview

"What constitutes beauty? And how do we identify it? Philosophical approaches to this question have swayed from the claim that there are principles of beauty ""out there"" waiting to be discovered, to the claim that there are simply no aesthetic principles and that beauty is an expression of disorder. This text rejects these approaches. Ruth Lorand explains beauty in terms of a lawless order, one that captures the complexities of beauty and its inherent paradoxes. Art is then the product of the attempt to master this order and create beauty. The book begins with a detailed discussion of the notions of order and disorder. It analyzes the differences between discursive and aesthetic order, covering issues of meaning, typology and validity. Lorand draws from a wide variety of philosophical material from Plato to Spinoza, Kant and Wittgenstein, as well as contemporary aestheticians such as Goodman, Mothersill, Ingarden, Margolis and others. She also draws from research in cognitive psychological approaches to art. ""Aesthetic Order"" challenges contemporary theories of aesthetics, offering the idea of beauty as quantitative yet different from the traditional discursive order. It aims to be of value to anyone interested in aesthetic theory."

Full Product Details

Author:   Ruth Lorand
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.560kg
ISBN:  

9780415236027

ISBN 10:   0415236029
Pages:   336
Publication Date:   10 August 2000
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction PART I Understanding order 1 What is order? 2 What is disorder? PART II Two types of order 3 Discursive order: the conventional concept 4 Beyond discursive order 5 Bergson: the unpredictable order 6 Aesthetic order: quantitative analysis 7 Aesthetic order: qualitative analysis (I) 8 Aesthetic order: qualitative analysis (II) 9 Relations and interactions PART III Aesthetic queries 10 Understanding beauty 11 Defining art

Reviews

'An impressively far ranging and thoughtful study.' - Kendall Walton, University of Michigan

'An impressively far ranging and thoughtful study.' - Kendall Walton, University of Michigan 'Ruth Lorand's book on aesthtic order is a very welcome and useful study in the field of aesthetics. ... its questions are addressed in new and fresh ways ... a very clear and comprehensive thesis, and a considerable amount of intelligent reflection.' - Eugenio Benitez, Literature and Aesthetics

Author Information

Ruth Lorand is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Haifa, Israel.

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