Aesthetics

A Very Short Introduction

De: Bence Nanay

Narrado por: Alex Wyndham

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that explores the nature of art, beauty, and taste. It doesn't just consider traditional artistic experiences such as artworks in a museum or an opera performance, but also everyday experiences such as autumn leaves in the park or even just the light of the setting sun falling on the kitchen table. It is also about your experience when you choose the shirt you're going to wear today or when you wonder whether you should put more pepper in the soup. Aesthetics is everywhere. It is one of the most important aspects of our life.

In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, Bence Nanay introduces the field of aesthetics, considering both Western and non-Western aesthetic traditions and exploring why it is sometimes misunderstood or considered to be too elitist - by artists, musicians, and even philosophers. As Nanay shows, so-called "high art" has no more claims on aesthetics than sitcoms, tattoos, or punk rock. In fact, the scope of aesthetics extends far wider than that of art, high or low, including much of what we care about in life. It is not the job of aesthetics to tell you which artworks are good and which ones are bad. It is not the job of aesthetics to tell you what experiences are worth having. If an experience is worth having for you, it thereby becomes the subject of aesthetics. This realization is important because thinking about aesthetics in this inclusive way opens up new ways of understanding old questions about the social aspect of our aesthetic engagements and the importance of aesthetic values for our own self.

©2019 Bence Nanay (P)2020 Tantor

Great Introduction to Aesthetics

I liked the emphasis on inclusion of all types of aesthetic philosophy, and found it did a good job at inspiring me to explore this field further.

great intro into aesthetics

i have learned some good distinction of what art is and what athestics is, that's by itself is a good value on its own.

Postmodernist garbage

This is from a strict doctrinaire postmodern orthodox point of view, a very parochial, cynical and nonsensical approach to philosophy. Noobs don’t get duped. Caveat emptor.

Critique of 'Western' Aesthetics - A Virtue Signal

Me: hmm this introduction is taking a while...

Narrator (Chapter 1): ...neither will I focus on uniquely ‘Western’ ideas that blatantly fail to resonate with the rest of the world, regardless of the prestige of the dead white males who came up with them.

Me: *eye roll* ok great, good for you... can you talk about aesthetics now?

Narrator (Chapter 2): ...feminist film theory ...extremely influential... highly sexualized 'male gaze'...

Me: ffs

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Summary: this book is obsessed with contrasting 'Western' with 'non-Western' and subsequently fails to do what it should: engage or excite the reader about Aesthetics.