In the OXFORD READERS series, this collection of work combines classic accounts of the nature of aesthetics with the latest approaches to the subject. Maynard focuses on why art matters to us and how perceivers participate in the experience of a piece of art. Includes writings by diverse thinkers ranging from Aristotle to Xie-He to Susan Sontag. Introduction I. Why Describe Anything as Aesthetic? 11(76) Introduction 11(1) I.a. The Aesthetic 11(45) CLIVE BELL I. The Aesthetic Hypothesis 15(8) PAUL ZIFF 2. Anything Viewed 23(7) ALLEN CARLSON 3. Aesthetic Appreciation of the Natural Environment 30(10) OSCAR WILDE 4. The New Aesthetics 40(5) JOHN DEWEY 5. The Aesthetic in Experience 45(11) I.b. Many Aesthetics 56(31) KAKUZO OKAKURA 6. The Tea-Room 57(5) JUN ICHIRO TANIZAKI 7. In Praise of Shadows 62(4) FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE 8. The Dionysian 66(1) JOSHUA C. TAYLOR 9. Art and the Ethnological Artifact 67(4) LINDA NOCHLIN 10. Women, Art and Power 71(7) MICHAEL ROEMER 11. The Surfaces of Reality 78(9) II. Why Identify Anything as Art? 87(67) Introduction 87(3) II.a. Ideas of Art 90(29) PAUL OSKAR KRISTELLER 12. The Modern System of the Arts 90(12) ABBE BATTEUX 13. The Fine Arts Reduced to a Single Principle 102(3) JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT 14. The Arts and Fine Arts 105(4) CLIFFORD GEERTZ 15. Art as a Cultural System 109(10) II.b. The Arts in Society 119(35) MARK SAGOFF 16. On the Aesthetic and Economic Value of Art 119(10) WHITNEY CHADWICK 17. Women Artists and the Institutions of Art 129(3) GRISELDA POLLOCK 18. Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity 132(9) KATHLEEN MARIE HIGGINS 19. The Music of Our Lives 141(8) IVAN KARP 20. How Museums Define Other Cultures 149(5) III. What Do Artists Do? 154(67) Introduction 154(4) III.a. Expression 158(17) CLIVE BELL 21. The Metaphysical Hypothesis 158(2) JOHN STUART MILL 22. What is Poetry? 160(6) LEO TOLSTOY 23. What is Art? 166(6) JOHN HOSPERS 24. Art as Expression 172(3) III.b. Artistic Freedom and Creativity 175(46) MEYER SCHAPIRO 25. Diderot on the Artist and Society 175(5) IMMANUEL KANT 26. Art and Genius 180(12) G. W. F. HEGEL 27. Art, Nature, Freedom 192(5) WARREN L. D'AZEVEDO 28. Sources of Gola Artistry 197(9) XIE-HE (HSIEH HO) 29. Six Canons of Painting 206(1) SU SHIH 30. Painting Bamboo 206(1) SU SHIH 31. Genius 207(1) WANG CH'INCH'EN 32. Spiritual Excellence 207(1) EDGAR ALLAN POE 33. The Philosophy of Composition 208(7) R. G. COLLINGWOOD 34. Art and Craft 215(6) IV. Can We Ever Understand an Artwork? 221(54) Introduction 221(3) MONROE BEARDSLEY 35. The Artist's Intention 224(4) STEPHEN DAVIES 36. Authenticity in Musical Performance 228(7) RICHARD WOLLHEIM 37. Criticism as Retrieval 235(7) MICHAEL BAXANDALL 38. Truth and Other Cultures 242(7) SUSAN SONTAG 39. Against Interpretation 249(7) ARTHUR C. DANTO 40. Deep Interpretation 256(8) NELSON GOODMAN 41. Art and Authenticity 264(6) ROLAND BARTHES 42. From Work to Text 270(5) V. Why Respond Emotionally to Art? 275(64) Introduction 275(3) R. K. ELLIOTT 43. Aesthetic Theory and the Experience of Art 278(10) KENDALL L. WALTON 44. Make-Believe and the Arts 288(8) ARISTOTLE 45. The Emotions Proper to Tragedy 296(3) ARISTOTLE 46. Emotions and Music 299(1) MARTHA C. NUSSBAUM 47. Luck and the Tragic Emotions 300(5) SUSAN L. FEAGIN 48. The Pleasures of Tragedy 305(9) TED COHEN 49. Jokes 314(10) EDMUND BURKE 50. The Sublime: Of Delight and Pleasure 324(4) JERROLD LEVINSON 51. Music and Negative Emotion 328(11) VI. How Can We Evaluate Art? 339(41) Introduction 339(3) CURT DUCASSE 52. Criticism as Appraisal 342(5) MEYER SCHAPIRO 53. On Perfection and Coherence in Art 347(3) DAVID HUME 54. Of the Standard of Taste 350(14) ARNOLD ISENBERG 55. Critical Communication 364(7) JOHN BERGER 56. Lessons of the Past 371(3) KWAME ANTHONY APPIAH 57. The Postcolonial and the Aesthetic 374(6) Notes 380(10) Select Bibliography 390(5) Biographical Notes 395(8) Source Acknowledgements for Texts and Illustrations 403(4) Index 407