• The Subversion of Beauty

    Author(s):
    Arnold Berleant (see profile)
    Date:
    2018
    Subject(s):
    Aesthetics, Culture
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    aesthetic experience, aesthetic awareness, aesthetic co-optation
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M64B2X47X
    Abstract:
    We can see how an aesthetic analysis of the mechanisms of mass culture can reveal many of the hidden ways in which sensibility is appropriated and controlled. It may not be too far-fetched to recall Aristotle’s definition of a slave as a living tool. How else should we think of a person whose sensibility has been so taken over that one’s very perception of the world is controlled by others. This is more than physical domination, more than thought control; it is control over the very substance of experience. Would it be too strong to call this total enslavement? Through such an analysis as this essay suggests, aesthetics is empowered to become an instrument of emancipation.
    Notes:
    Published in Chinese only. Translated by Zhao Yu, South China Academics (University of Macau), 2018.
    Metadata:
    Published as:
    Book chapter    
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    5 years ago
    License:
    Attribution-NonCommercial
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