Social Aesthetics and Moral Judgment

<p>This edited collection sets forth a new understanding of aesthetic-moral judgment organized around three key concepts: pleasure reflection and accountability. The overarching theme is that art is not merely a representation or expression like any other but that it promotes shared moral understanding and helps us engage in meaning-making. This volume offers an alternative to brain-centric and realist approaches to aesthetics. It features original essays from a number of leading philosophers of art aesthetics ethics and perception including Elizabeth Burns Coleman Garrett Cullity Cynthia A. Freeland Ivan Gaskell Paul Guyer Jane Kneller Keith Lehrer Mohan Matthen Jennifer A. McMahon Bence Nanay Nancy Sherman and Robert Sinnerbrink.</p><p>Part I of the book analyses the elements of aesthetic experience—pleasure preference and imagination—with the individual conceived as part of a particular cultural context and network of other minds. The chapters in Part II explain how it is possible for cultural learning to impact these elements through consensus building an impulse to objectivity emotional expression and reflection. Finally the chapters in Part III converge on the role of dissonance difference and diversity in promoting cultural understanding and advancement.</p><p><i>Social Aesthetics and Moral Judgment</i> will appeal to philosophers of art and aesthetics as well as scholars in other disciplines interested in issues related to art and cultural exchange.</p>