4 Books on Aesthetics
Hello Aesthetics Appreciators!
I wrote previously about four books on beauty specifically, but I wanted to recommend books on aesthetics more broadly. When it comes to aesthetics, I consider this topic different (but with some overlap) from discussions about art. It is surprising to me that in both science and philosophy, discussions about “aesthetics” tend to focus largely on art. I think this is way too narrow, since aesthetics infiltrates many (if not all) aspects of our lives. I mention this distinction because it influences my choices of books here, and I will likely do another newsletter on books about art. As always, my goal with these lists is to focus on books that are accessible to a wider group of readers.
Bence Nanay’s Very Short Introduction to Aesthetics (2020) explores art, beauty, and taste. (I review this book here.) In this short book, Nanay presents an overview of ideas about aesthetics, and he explains that aesthetics is everywhere, not just in art. Since he maintains aesthetics is everywhere, Nanay also does not limit himself to only western ideas. His examples come from a variety of sources, and he also discusses people from many places around the globe. From Immanuel Kant, many philosophers have focused on aesthetic judgment, but Nanay wonders if that is really the main point. So, he frames his discussion more around the concepts (and practices) of attention and experience.
Anjan Chatterjee wrote The Aesthetic Brain: How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art (2013), which guides the reader into a scientific understanding of why we like beauty and art. Neuroaesthetics helps us see what happens in the brain when we experience or perceive beauty, and evolutionary psychology helps us to understand why. Chatterjee brings together research that examined people from different cultures and age groups (including babies) to show that certain aspects of beauty seem to be part of our common humanity, and other aspects are unique to specific cultural contexts.
Monroe Beardsley was a philosopher and is the only nonliving thinker on this list; he lived from 1915 to 1985. Despite that it may be a little outdated, I still recommend his Aesthetics from Classical Greece to the Present: A Short History (1975). Beardsley’s history is a wonderful telling of the development of the philosophy of art and aesthetics (from a western perspective). His overview covers the major thinkers and ideas from ancient Greece to his contemporary time periods. As a brief introduction to these thinkers and ideas in their historical context, it is a valuable book.
Paul C. Taylor in an online discussion a few years ago mentioned that the book he wanted to read as a graduate student did not exist. So, as a professor, he wrote Black is Beautiful: A Philosophy of Black Aesthetics (2016). While this book might be the most difficult on this list, it is well worth the effort to read it slowly and carefully. Taylor analyzes concepts and theories, but he always presents real-world examples to introduce and ground the more abstract notions. Aesthetics permeates a lot of thoughts and actions for African-Americans throughout history, but this book is the first philosophical treatment of of those topics.
The above books (from philosophy and one from science) are accessible to a wider readership, with Taylor’s book probably being the most difficult of this group. But here’s a few extra recommendations for the reader who is ready for some more advanced theories of beauty.
Jane Forsey. The Aesthetics of Design.
Yuriko Saito. Everyday Aesthetics.
Allen Carlson and Arnold Berleant (editors). The Aesthetics of Natural Environments.
Let me know if you have any books on beauty to add to this list!
What I’ve been up to.
We turned in the final manuscript for our edited volume on digital fashion, which is forthcoming by Bloomsbury Academic (Spring 2024)!
I’m an invited speaker for a lunchtime session at the inaugural Intentional Spaces Summit in Washington D.C., November 9-10, 2023.
An article I wrote for Splice Today on the debate between classical and modern art and architecture.
To invite me to write for or speak to your group or organization, please email me at michaelrspicher@gmail.com
Thank you Michael! This is such a useful resource you've provided! Back in the Spring, I purchased Paul C. Taylor's book, Black is Beautiful: A Philosophy of Black Aesthetics (and I confess to not yet finishing it) but it's an excellent socio-cultural history of the evolution of Black Aesthetics in the context of colonialism, the consciousness-raising periods of Black Power, and it delves into many thorny issues such as 'authenticity' and cultural appropriation. Your post spurred me to order Nanay's Very Short Introduction to Aesthetics published by Oxford University Press, and it's my goal to acquire the other two as soon as I can save my nickels!