The Relevance of the Beautiful and Other EssaysThis volume explores some of the more important of Hans-Georg Gadamer's extensive writings on art and literature. The principal text included is 'The Relevance of the Beautiful', Gadamer's most sustained treatment of philosophical aesthetics. The eleven other essays focus particularly on the challenge issued by modern painting and literature to our customary ideas of art, and in turn revitalize our understanding of it. Gadamer demonstrates the continuing importance of such concepts as imitation, truth, symbol, and play for our appreciation of contemporary art, and thereby establishes its continuity with the Western tradition. The essays here are not technical and are readily accessible to the beginning student and the general reader. The collection as a whole serves to illustrate the practice of hermeneutics and to introduce Gadamer's thought. Robert Bernasconi provides an introduction clarifying the central aims of the essays and their relations to Gadamer's major work, Truth and Method, and to the philosophy of art since Kant. A bibliography of Gadamer's writings available in English is also included. |
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Contents
The festive character of theater | 57 |
Composition and interpretation | 66 |
Image and gesture | 74 |
The speechless image | 83 |
Art and imitation | 92 |
On the contribution of poetry to the search for truth | 105 |
Poetry and mimesis | 116 |
The play of art | 123 |
Philosophy and poetry | 131 |
Aesthetic and religious experience | 140 |
Intuition and vividness | 155 |
Notes | 171 |
183 | |
187 | |
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Common terms and phrases
activity actually aesthetic allows already appearance artistic beautiful become belongs century certainly character Christian claim classical clearly concept concerned contemporary context continuity course creation culture describe direction encounter essays example existence experience expression fact familiar festival Gadamer Gadamer's gesture given gives Greek hand Hegel human idea ideal imagination imitation intended interpretation intuition judgment Kant Kant's kind knowledge language longer look means Method mimesis nature object once original ourselves painting particular past philosophy picture play poem poet poetic poetry possible precisely present produced pure question reality realm recognition recognize reference reflection relation religious remains representation represents seems sense significance simply speak specific speech stands symbol task theater theory things thought tion tradition trans translation true truth understanding unity universal whole