The Care of the Self is the third and possibly final volume of Michel Foucault’s widely acclaimed examination of "the experience of sexuality in Western society." Foucault takes us into the first two centuries of our own era, into the Golden Age of Rome, to reveal a subtle but decisive break from the classical Greek vision of sexual pleasure. He skillfully explores the whole corpus of moral reflection among philosophers and physicians of the era, and uncovers an increasing mistrust of (...) pleasure and growing anxiety over sexual activity and its consequences. (shrink)

Brings together essays on the philosophy of art in which a philosophical theory of aesthetic judgment is tested and developed through its application to particular examples. Each essay approaches, from its own field of study, what Roger Scruton argues to be the central problems of aesthetics -- what is aesthetic experience, and what is its importance for human conduct? The book is divided into four parts. The first contains a resume of modern analytical aesthetics, which also serves as an introduction (...) to subsequent chapters. It also includes an essay that reviews current theories of literary criticism. The second part is devoted to musical aesthetics and contains the theoretical core of the work. Here Scruton describes the contours of aesthetic understanding, and defends the view that the object of aesthetic experience is inherently significant, even when it has no "content" that can be described in propositional terms. He rebuts the view that music is representational, and in the third part goes on to propose a theory of representation whereby to refute the suggestion that photography is a representational art. This third section also contains a study of film. The final part comprises essays relating aesthetic judgment to the understanding of culture, humor, and design. It covers many subjects, including the prose works of Samuel Beckett and the architecture of Leninism. The essays in this book form parts of a single intellectual enterprise, which is to give analytical foundations to the criticism of literature, visual art, music, and culture. (shrink)

The most important aesthetics of the century, this is a long-awaited work, the culmination of a lifetime's investigation.

Der genaue Charakter dieser Schrift, die Grenzen neu zieht (so zwischen Metaphysik und Moral auf der einen und Religion auf der anderen Seite), aber auch überschreitet (so im literarischen Genus), läßt sich indessen nur schwer bestimmen. Die Reden waren Schleiermachers literarischer Erstling. Ihre Abfassung fällt in die Zeit der intensiven Freundschaft und Zusammenarbeit mit Friedrich Schlegel, sie zeugen aber bereits von der Eigenständigkeit und Originalität der Schleiermacherschen Gedanken innerhalb des frühromantischen Freundeskreises. Die Entschiedenheit, mit der Schleiermacher die Religion von der (...) Philosophie trennt, verbietet es, die Reden umstandslos als einen philosophischen Text zu lesen. Doch diese Trennung verliert dort an Schärfe, wo er die Religion ausdrücklich ins Verhältnis zur Philosophie setzt und nicht nur die Philosophie betreffende Thesen vertritt, sondern auch philosophische Positionen für sein Religionsverständnis vereinnahmt. Dies geschieht vor allem dort, wo die Religion als 'Gefühl des Unendlichen' bzw. 'Sehnsucht' nach dem Unendlichen spekulative Bedeutung erlangt. Die Religion, so führt Schleiermacher aus, bilde das 'Gegengewicht' zu dem "Triumph der Spekulation [...], dem vollendeten und gerundeten Idealismus", indem sie ihn "einen höheren Realismus ahnden läßt als den, welchem er so kühn und mit so vollem Recht sich unterordnet". (shrink)

These two complementary works give the reader a unique insight into the breadth and substance of Kierkegaard's thought. One reads like a novel and the other a Platonic dialogue but both concern the nature of love, faith, and happiness. These are the first translations to convey the literary quality and philosophical precision of the originals.

This good-humoured book offers an antidote to the pretentious clap-trap that is written about wine today and a profound apology for the drink on which..

Veils -- Boxes -- Tables -- Visit -- Joy.