About the Book
German Aesthetics provides English-speaking audiences with accessible explanations of fundamental concepts from the German tradition of philosophical aesthetics. Organized with the understanding that aesthetic concepts are often highly contested intellectual territory, and that the usage and meanings of terms often shift within historical, cultural, and political debates, this volume brings together scholars of German literature, philosophy, film studies, musicology, and history to provide informative and creative interpretations of German aesthetics that will be useful to students and scholars alike.
Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION, J.D. Mininger and Jason Michael Peck
IMAGINATION, Jochen Schulte-Sasse (posthumous publication), Emeritus at University of Minnesota, USA
JUDGMENT, Vivasvan Soni, Northwestern University, USA
BEAUTY, Paul Guyer, Brown University, USA
SUBLIME, David Martyn, Macalester College, USA
MIMESIS, Christian Sieg, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Germany
FEELING: ON WERTHER, Stanley Corngold, Emeritus at Princeton University, USA
IRONY, Michel Chaouli, Indiana University, USA
LISTENING, Mirko M. Hall, Converse College, USA
ETHICS, Jason Michael Peck, University of Rochester, USA
ABSOLUTE MUSIC, Sanna Pederson, University of Oklahoma, USA
THE END OF ART, Eva Geulen, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Germany
ALLEGORY, J.D. Mininger, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
VALUE, A. Kiarina Kordela, Macalester College, USA
GOD IS DEAD, Silke-Maria Weineck, University of Michigan, USA
TRAGEDY / TRAUERSPIEL, Ian Balfour, York University, Canada
SAYING / SHOWING, Fabian Goppelsröder, Universität Potsdam, Germany
NOTHINGNESS, Kenneth Haynes, Brown University, USA
MESSIANISM, Peter Fenves, Northwestern University, USA
MEDIATION / MEDIUM, James A. Steintrager, University of California, Irvine, USA and Rey Chow, Duke University, USA
TRUTH, Kai Hammermeister, The Ohio State University, USA
UNCANNY, Thomas Pepper, University of Minnesota, USA
MOOD / ATTUNEMENT, Darío González, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
FILM, Johannes von Moltke, University of Michigan, USA
MONTAGE / COLLAGE, Patrizia McBride, Cornell University, USA
NORMALITY, Jürgen Link, Emeritus at Universität Dortmund, Germany
UGLY, Richard Leppert, University of Minnesota, USA
SHUDDER, Karyn Ball, University of Alberta, Canada
COMMITTED ART, Andrew Knighton , California State University at Los Angeles, USA
About the Author :
J.D. Mininger is Professor of Philosophy at Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania, and Associate Dean at LCC International University, Lithuania.
Jason Michael Peck is Visiting Assistant Professor of German at the University of Rochester, USA.
Review :
A vital contribution to the field of philosophical aesthetics and its implications for the study of art, of societies, and of sensual perception; the broad intellectual horizon and elegant reasoning of its entries make it a genuine pleasure to read.
How do we think and judge beyond established rules? The contributions of this volume articulate with great verve the intellectual and political implications of this core question that has been animating German aesthetics since the 18th century. This is an important book for anybody interested in art and its power to imagine alternative modes of thinking, living, and governing.
Taking systematic and historical perspectives, the essays in this volume explore numerous concepts that feature prominently in German aesthetics, such as imagination, mimesis, beauty, the sublime, and irony. Drawing on foundational writings by Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Adorno, the authors cover a wide spectrum of the arts, including literature, music, painting, and film. Readers will also find topics rarely treated elsewhere, such as 'saying/showing' and 'the end of art.' This is an excellent book that will provide Anglophone teachers and students with informed insights into aesthetics from the eighteenth century through the present.
