In this book, Arnold Berleant develops a bold alternative to the eighteenth-century aesthetic of disinterestedness. Centering on the notion of participatory engagement in the appreciation of art, he explores its appearance in art and in aesthetic perception, especially during the past century. Aesthetic engagement becomes a key, both on historical and theoretical grounds, to making intelligible our experiences with both contemporary and classical arts. In place of the traditional aesthetic that enjoins the appreciator to adopt a contemplative attitude, distancing the art object in order to ensure its removal from practical uses, "Art and Engagement" examines the ways in which art entices us into intimate participation in its workings. Beginning with the historical and theoretical underpinnings of the idea of engagement, Berleant focuses on how engagement works as a force in different arts. Successive chapters pursue its influence in landscape painting, architecture and environmental design, literature, music, dance, and film. "Art and Engagement" argues forcefully for the originality and power of aesthetic perception. Demolishing the conceptual barriers erected by the Western world's limiting tradition, the book discloses the condition of engagement that has always been present when our aesthetic encounters have been most effective and suggests a new direction for aesthetic inquiry.

CONTENTS

Illustrations 

Preface 

Introduction                                                                                                                 

PART ONE.  AESTHETICS AND EXPERIENCE

Chapter One.    Experience and Theory in Aesthetics                          

Chapter Two.    The Unity of Aesthetic Experience

 PART TWO.  ENGAGEMENT AND THE ARTS  

Chapter Three.  The Viewer in the Landscape                                    

Chapter Four.   Architecture as Environmental Design                     

Chapter Five.   The Reader's Word                                                               

Chapter Six.    Musical Generation                                                    

Chapter Seven.  Dance as Performance                                                         

PART THREE.  ART AND REALITY

Chapter Eight.  Cinematic Reality

Chapter Nine.   The Realities of Art

Chapter Ten.    Epilogue:  Art and the End of Aesthetics                 

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