Aesthetics beyond the Arts

Arnold Berleant, Department of Philosophy, Long Island University, USA.

• Contents: Preface: towards an aesthetics beyond art; Part I The Arts as Experience: Judging architecture; What titles don't tell; What music isn't and how to teach it. Part II Environmental Aesthetics: Art, nature, environment; The re-shaping of experience; Two ways in the landscape; Scenic beauty in a global context; Forestry aesthetics: forest management as landscape architecture; Distant cities: thoughts on an aesthetics of urbanism; Ideas for an ecological aesthetics; Nature and habitation in a Chinese garden. Part III Implications: Aesthetics without purpose; The legacy of Dewey's aesthetics; Evolutionary naturalism and the abandonment of dualism; The aesthetic politics of environment; The changing meaning of landscape; Beauty and the way of modern life; Index.

'The informal style of Aesthetics beyond the Arts makes it enjoyable to read and its essays contain many rich descriptions on different types of environment ... The book should interest a wide range of readers. Not only those wanting a well-informed look at the main issues of environmental aesthetics, but readers who wish to get a glimpse on some of its emerging trends will find interesting reading in this book.' Kalle Puolakka, Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study/University of Helsinki 'Berleant’s text does exactly as his title suggests: the cornucopian selection of essays traces his aesthetic thought from its origins in the arts, through the rise of environmental aesthetics, and to his current preoccupation with the ethical obligations of aesthetic theory. While the text does not break new ground for Berleant, a better introduction to his work would be difficult to find'. The British Journal of Aesthetics