Foundations of the Philosophy of the Arts

PHILOSOPHY OF THE PERFORMING ARTS Philosophical inquiry concerning the performing arts has tended to focus on music—specifically classical music—which is assumed to provide a model for understanding the performing arts as a whole. This book engages with this belief and critically explores how the "classical paradigm" might be extended to other musical genres, to theater, and to dance. Taking in key components of artistic performance—improvisation, rehearsal, the role of the audience, the embodied nature of the artistic performer—the book examines similarities and differences between the performing art forms and presents the key philosophical issues that they bring into play. These reflections are then applied to the disputed issue of those contemporary artworks usually classified as "performance art." Assuming no prior knowledge of the subject matter, this book provides an accessible, yet sophisticated, introduction to the field and a comprehensive framework for thinking about the performing arts.

Philosophy of Literature presents six newly-commissioned essays from international scholars that address some of the key issues relating to the philosophy of literature, a thriving and increasingly influential branch of aesthetics • Features a half dozen newly commissioned articles from leading scholars in the field of philosophy of literature • Focuses on a branch of aesthetics that has not received the attention it deserves • Includes a reading on the historical relationship between philosophy and literature with recent developments and projections for the future

Black is Beautiful identifies and explores the most significant philosophical issues that emerge from the aesthetic dimensions of black life, providing a long-overdue synthesis and the first extended philosophical treatment of this crucial subject. • The first extended philosophical treatment of an important subject that has been almost entirely neglected by philosophical aesthetics and philosophy of art • Takes an important step in assembling black aesthetics as an object of philosophical study • Unites two areas of scholarship for the first time—philosophical aesthetics and black cultural theory, dissolving the dilemma of either studying philosophy, or studying black expressive culture • Brings a wide range of fields into conversation with one another—from visual culture studies and art history to analytic philosophy to musicology—producing mutually illuminating approaches that challenge some of the basic suppositions of each • Well-balanced, up-to-date, and beautifully written as well as inventive and insightful