Synopsis
In his Art of the Modern Age Jean-Marie Schaeffer offered a lucid and powerful critique of what he identified as having dominated thinking about art and aesthetics from the Jena Romantics to Nietzsche, Heidegger, Adorno and beyond-'the speculative theory of Art'. But what can philosophical tradition and contemporary aesthetics offer in its stead? Exploring this question in Beyond Speculation , Schaeffer rejects not only the identification of the aesthetic with the work of art but also the still-prevalent Kantian association of the aesthetic with subjectively universal judgement. He analyzes aesthetic relation as a cognitive relation to the world and a transculturally shared aspect of human behaviour. In doing so, he opens up the space for a theory of art that is free of historicism and capable of engaging with non-canonical and non-Western arts. Relying on a Searlian account of Intentionality, engaging notably with Arthur Danto, Gérard Genette, Nelson Goodman, George Dickie and Rainer Rochlitz, and evoking a wide range of aesthetic experience-from Proust to King King, from the pleasures of the table to the spatial play of Japanese temple design- Beyond Speculation makes an original and engaging contribution to the development of a naturalistic yet non-reductive philosophy of culture, something very different from cultural theory as currently understood., In his well-known work of art criticism Art of the Modern Age , Jean-Marie Schaeffer offered a lucid and powerful critique of what he identified as the historically dominant thinking about art and aesthetics from the Jena Romantics, to Nietzsche, Heidegger, Adorno, and beyond, which he termed "the speculative theory of art." Here, in Beyond Speculation, Schaeffer builds from this significant work, rejecting not only the identification of the aesthetic with the work of art, but also the Kantian association of the aesthetic with subjectively universal judgment. In his analysis of aesthetic relations, he opens up a space for a theory of art that is free of historicism and capable of engaging with noncanonical and non-Western arts. By engaging with the ideas of Arthur Danto, Gérard Genette, Nelson Goodman, George Dickie and Rainer Rochlitz, and evoking a range of aesthetic experience from Proust to King Kong to Japanese temple design, Beyond Speculation makes an original and engaging contribution to the development of the philosophy of culture. "While Schaeffer is not afraid to do the necessary detail work, he never gets mired in issues of merely scholastic interest."--F. L. Rush, Bookforum , on Art of the Modern Age, In his well-known work of art criticism Art of the Modern Age , Jean-Marie Schaeffer offered a lucid and powerful critique of what he identified as the historically dominant thinking about art and aesthetics from the Jena Romantics, to Nietzsche, Heidegger, Adorno, and beyond, which he termed "the speculative theory of art." Here, in Beyond Speculation, Schaeffer builds from this significant work, rejecting not only the identification of the aesthetic with the work of art, but also the Kantian association of the aesthetic with subjectively universal judgment. In his analysis of aesthetic relations, he opens up a space for a theory of art that is free of historicism and capable of engaging with noncanonical and non-Western arts. By engaging with the ideas of Arthur Danto, G rard Genette, Nelson Goodman, George Dickie and Rainer Rochlitz, and evoking a range of aesthetic experience from Proust to King Kong to Japanese temple design, Beyond Speculation makes an original and engaging contribution to the development of the philosophy of culture. "While Schaeffer is not afraid to do the necessary detail work, he never gets mired in issues of merely scholastic interest."--F. L. Rush, Bookforum , on Art of the Modern Age
