Beardsley's book ? It illuminates an area of history from a certain perspective as was never done before.... The distinguishing feature of his book is an excitement over everything I aesthetics that has to do with symbols, meanings, language, and modes of interpretation."" - The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism
At once a treatise for professionals and a guide for newcomers to the subject, Aesthetics is ideal both as an introductory survey of the literature on theories of art and beauty from earliest times to the present and as a text for courses in the philosophy of art. The author examines all major aspects of Western aesthetic thought, and a third of the book focuses specifically on 19th-and-20th century aesthetic theory.
