Art and Its Significance by Brian Elliott

Art and Its Significance by Brian Elliott

A topical, art-practice focused anthology that caters to diverse interests in aesthetics.

Art and Its Significance is a highly engaging and readable anthology, which ranges from ancient Greek writing on epic and theater to contemporary issues relating to how art is impacted by augmented reality technologies. This collection offers a firm foundation in classic and modern aesthetics by a diverse range of authors from Plato and Aristotle to Judith Butler, Jacques Rancière, and Mary Devereaux. Its thematic organization allows readers to focus on particular topics and genres and make connections between different approaches to a wide range of artistic expression. Each article is introduced with details on the author and a summary of the main arguments offered in the text. Additional section introductions help the reader to understanding how the grouped texts relate to one another. This anthology does not assume prior knowledge of philosophy or aesthetics and is well suited to college course use.

"This is the best wide-ranging collection of philosophical writings on art that I've found, and I would highly recommend it to other professors teaching undergraduate or graduate classes in aesthetics or related courses" — Andy Amato, University of Texas at Dallas

"Art and Its Significance is wide-ranging, covering texts from the history of Western philosophy from Plato through contemporary thinkers. I like that there are so many different options in the text. That variety and diversity frees professors to design courses in a variety of ways, using the 'same' textbook to support a number of different courses. I would recommend (and have recommended) the text to others for use in their classes." — Anne J. Mamary, Monmouth College, Illinois

Brian Elliott is a faculty member in the Philosophy Department at Oregon State University. His publications include Benjamin for Architects; Natural Catastrophe: Climate Change and Neoliberal Governance; and A Child’s Place in Nature: Towards a Pedagogy for the Anthropocene. Stephen David Ross is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Comparative Literature, SUNY Binghamton. He is the author of numerous works, including Un-Forgetting: Re-Calling Time Lost; The Gift of Self: Shattering Emptiness, Betrayal; and The Gift of Property: Having the Good / Betraying Genitivity, Economy and Ecology, an Ethic of the Earth, all published by SUNY Press.