Aesthetics and Values : Contemporary Perspectives

Fostering a dialogue enriched by contributions from both the analytic and the continental tradition (and drawing on authors such as Broch, Diderot, Levinson, and Wittgenstein), this volume delves into the complex relationship between aesthetics and values. The chapters gathered here reveal decisive aspects of the nature of aesthetic and artistic values, as well as their multiple connections to other kinds of value. On the one hand, they shed light on how aesthetic value can be distinguished from artistic value, with which it is often associated and sometimes even confused. On the other hand, they inquire into how both aesthetic and artistic values relate to ethical, cognitive, and political values – a task that is becoming increasingly urgent in contemporary debates on the role art can play in our lives.