Featuring contributions from Matthew Kieran, Aaron Ridley, Roger Scruton and Mary Mothersill to name but a few, this collection of groundbreaking new papers on aesthetics and ethics, highlights the link between the two subjects. These leading figures tackle the important questions that arise when one thinks about the moral dimensions of art and the aesthetic dimension of moral life.
The volume is a significant contribution to philosophical literature, opening up unexplored questions and shedding new light on more traditional debates in aesthetics. The topics explored include:
- the relation of aesthetic to ethical judgment
- the relation of artistic experience to moral consciousness
- the moral status of fiction
- the concepts of sentimentality and decadence
- the moral dimension of critical practice, pictorial art and music
- the moral significance of tragedy
- the connections between artistic and moral issues elaborated in the writings of central figures in modern philosophy, such as Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche.
The contributors share the view that progress in aesthetics requires detailed study of the practice of criticism. This volume will appeal to both the philosophical community and to researchers in areas such as literary theory, musicology and the theory of art.
Art and Morality: An Introduction José Luis Bermúdez and Sebastian Gardner 1. Ethics and Aesthetics Are -? Michael Tanner 2. Art and Moral Education Christopher Hamilton 3. Forbidden Knowledge: The Challenge of Immoralism Matthew Kieran 4. Make-Believe Morality and Fictional Worlds Mary Mothersill 5. Sentimentality Michael Tanner 6. The Concept of Decadence José Luis Bermúdez 7. Critical Conversions Aaron Ridley 8. Love in Wagner’s Ring Roger Scruton 9. Moral Depth and Pictorial Art John Armstrong 10. Kant and the Ideal of Beauty Anthony Savile 11. Schopenhauer on Tragedy and Value Alex Neill 12. Tragedy, Morality and Metaphysics Sebastian Gardner 13. Nietzsche’s Artistic Revaluation Christopher Janaway 14. Art, Expression and Morality Colin Lyas
Biography
Jose Luis Bermudez (Edited by) , Sebastian Gardner (Edited by)
'In short, the editors of Art and Morality have put together a collection of papers covering a wide range of important topics, characterized by both theoretical sharpness and serious exegesis' - Alessandro Giovanelli, Mind
'The editors have done an excellent job of collecting essays by a number of leading scholars in aesthetics on this important topic.' - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
'Through this collection, we gain access to some outstanding scholarship. We also gain a full sense of the richness of the subject and an exciting promise of more work to be done.' - Australasian Journal of Philosophy
