Images of Excellence - Plato's Critique of the Arts (Hardcover)

Plato was the first great figure in Western philosophy to assess the value of the arts; he famously argued in the Republic that traditionally accepted forms of poetry, drama, and music are unsound, claiming they are conducive to warped ethical standards, detrimental to the psyche, and purveyors of illusions about important matters in human life. This view has been widely rejected; but Christopher Janaway here argues that Plato's hostile case is a more coherent and profound challenge to the arts than has sometimes been supposed. Denying that Plato advocates `good art' in any modern sense, Dr Janaway seeks both to understand Plato's critique in the context of his own philosophy and to locate him in today's philosophy of art, showing how issues in aesthetics arise from responses to his charges. Plato's questions about beauty, emotion, representation, ethical knowledge, artistic autonomy, and censorship are of contemporary relevance as formerly secure assumptions about the value of art and the aesthetic come under scrutiny. Images of Excellence gives a new and original view of a famous issue in the history of philosophy; it is written not only for readers working in ancient philosophy, but for all who are interested in aesthetics, art theory, and literary theory.

General

Imprint:	Clarendon Press
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	May 1995
First published:	May 1995
Authors:	Christopher Janaway (Senior Lecturer in Philosophy)
Dimensions:	224 x 145 x 19mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	236
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-824007-5
Categories:	Books > Arts & Architecture > The arts: general issues > Theory of art Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary theory Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Aesthetics Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Ancient Western philosophy to c 500 > General Books > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Aesthetics Books > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Ancient Western philosophy to c 500 > General
LSN:	0-19-824007-4
Barcode:	9780198240075

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!