Dickie, George : University of Illinois at Chicago
George Dickie is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at University of Illinois, Chicago. He is the author of The
Century of Taste (OUP, 1996), Aesthetics: A Critical Anthology, Second Edition (co-editor, 1989), Evaluating Art
(1988), The Art Circle: A Theory of Art (1984), and Art and the Aesthetic (1974).
Summary
This unique and engaging text traces aesthetics from its ancient beginnings through the changes it underwent
in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and the first half of the twentieth century. The first part of the book outlines
the history of the two organized notions of aesthetics-the theory of beauty and the imitation theory of art-and
describes the transformations they went through from ancient Greek times until the 1950s. The responses of the
cultural theories in the 1960s to these earlier developments are then discussed in detail. Four additional topics-intentionalistic
criticism, symbolism, metaphor, and expression-are also addressed. Finally, five traditional art evaluational theories
are presented, and the author constructs an evaluational theory of his own by building on ideas drawn from the
work of Monroe Beardsley and Nelson Goodman.
Written by one of the foremost philosophers of aesthetics, Introduction to Aesthetics is ideal for undergraduate
courses in the philosophy of art and aesthetics, and is also suitable for graduate seminars and courses in these
areas. It offers students both a historical introduction to and the latest work on theories of art, theories of
the experience of art, and theories of art evaluation.
Incorporates a comprehensive historical introduction which provides background to the selections
Provides a comprehensive historical introduction which traces the central, organizing strains of the field,
setting the stage for discussion of present-day problems in aesthetics
Explains the latest work on theories of the experience of art, theories of art itself, and theories of art
evaluation
Table of Contents
Preface PART 1 - An Historical Introduction to Analytic Aesthetics
1. Introductory Remarks
2. The Theory of Beauty - Plato to the 19th Century
Plato - St. Thomas Aquinas - The Eighteenth Century: Taste and the Decline of Beauty - Shaftesbury - Hutcheson
- Burke - Hume - Alison - Kant - Summary - The Nineteenth Century: The Birth of the Aesthetic - Schopenhauer
3. The Aesthetic Attitude in the 20th Century
The Aesthetic State: Psychical Distance - Aesthetic Awareness: Disinterested Attention - Aesthetic Perception:
"Seeing As" - Summary and Conclusions
4. Metacriticism: Alternative to Aesthetic Attitude
5. The Theory of Art - Plato to the 19th Century
Introductory Remarks - Plato - Aristotle - The Nineteenth Century: New Directions - The Expression Theory of
Art - What Is a Theory of Art?
6. 20th Century Theories of Art 1914 to the 1950s
Clive Bell: A 20th Century Beauty Theory of Art
Suzanne Langer: A 20th Century Imitation Theory of Art
R. G. Collingwood: A 20th Century Expressionist Theory of Art
Morris Weitz: Art as an Open Concept
PART II - Aesthetics in the 20th Century - 1960s to Present
7. A Change of Directions and New Developments
A New Direction for the Experience of Art
A New Direction for the Theory of Art
8. The Institutional Theory of Art
The Earlier Version - The Later Version
PART III - Four Problems in Aesthetics
9. Intentionalist Criticism
10. Symbolism in Art
11. Metaphor
12. Expression
