Aesthetics: The Classic Readings

This is the first volume to be published in and exciting new series of classic collections in philosophy. It contains a wealth of historic writings on aesthetics, stretching from Plato to Collingwood, and is essential reading for both students and researchers who take the traditions of aesthetic thought seriously.

The volume includes such classics of western philosophy as Hume's essay on taste and Schopenhauer's discussion of music, as well as notable writings by Chinese and Indian thinkers, such as Mo Tzu and Coomaraswamy. The scope of aesthetics is understood widely, to include discussions of natural beauty as well as the theory of art, and the selected readings address a wide range of issues including the relation between art, morality and politics, artistic creativity, the criteria for aesthetic judgement, and the nature of aesthetic pleasure.

The volume begins with a substantial introduction to aesthetics and each selected text is prefaced by a helpful discussion of its context, content and relationship to other writings.