The Principles of Aesthetics

The Principles of Aesthetics can be considered the definitive work on aesthetics, the philosophy of art, beauty, and taste. It is the result of a series of lectures given by Dewitt H. Parker, and gives a comprehensive review of a truly extensive subject. Every person has some sense of the beautiful and the ugly. We all admire certain images, combinations of sound, taste, smell, or feeling. But where does this enjoyment come from? If our tastes were all alike, we could find precise formulae that define the beautiful and discover the keys to the nature of art. But our tastes differ from one person to the next, and even from one moment to the next. This is what makes beauty a mystery. Art is a grasping at the intangible reality that surrounds and transcends our attempts to order the world. This is what makes the philosophy of aesthetics so fascinating. At the very least, it gives us insight into our nature as human beings. At best, it can let us glimpse the nature of truth beyond reason a