{"title":"Philosophy--Aesthetics","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"why-sound-matters","title":"Why Sound Matters","description":"\u003cb\u003eA poignant consideration of the material aspect of sound and how it fundamentally shapes our experience of the world, both in its presence and absence\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e From the joyous communal connections fostered through shared auditory experience to the devastating impact of noise pollution in the deep sea, musician and author Damon Krukowski urges readers to reconsider the significance of sound and its role in both our personal and collective well-being. He looks despairingly at how the multipronged efforts of urban dwellers to mitigate city noise have led to increased isolation, loss of community, and a sense of physical detachment from one's surroundings. He considers the consequences of the commodification of sound in the digital era. 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The result is a culture that is flattened and sanitized, purged of ugliness, excess, and provocation. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOur embrace of minimalism has left us spiritually impoverished. We see it in our homes, where we bring in Marie Kondo to rid them of their idiosyncrasies and darknesses. We take up mindfulness to do the same thing to our heads, emptying them of the musings, thoughts, and obsessions that make us who we are. In the bedroom, a new wave of puritanism has drained sex of its unpredictability and therefore true eroticism. In our fictions, the quest for balance has given us protagonists who aspire only to excise their appetites. 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For two decades or more in the humanities, various political arguments have been put forward against beauty: that it distracts us from more important issues; that it is the handmaiden of privilege; and that it masks political interests. In \u003ci\u003eOn Beauty and Being Just\u003c\/i\u003e Elaine Scarry not only defends beauty from the political arguments against it but also argues that beauty does indeed press us toward a greater concern for justice. Taking inspiration from writers and thinkers as diverse as Homer, Plato, Marcel Proust, Simone Weil, and Iris Murdoch as well as her own experiences, Scarry offers up an elegant, passionate manifesto for the revival of beauty in our intellectual work as well as our homes, museums, and classrooms. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Scarry argues that our responses to beauty are perceptual events of profound significance for the individual and for society. 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With its direct appeal to the senses, beauty stops us, transfixes us, fills us with a \"surfeit of aliveness.\" In so doing, it takes the individual away from the center of his or her self-preoccupation and thus prompts a distribution of attention outward toward others and, ultimately, she contends, toward ethical fairness. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Scarry, author of the landmark \u003ci\u003eThe Body in Pain\u003c\/i\u003e and one of our bravest and most creative thinkers, offers us here philosophical critique written with clarity and conviction as well as a passionate plea that we change the way we think about beauty.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0691089590\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780691089591\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Scarry, Elaine\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Nov 2001)","offer_id":46080502464709,"sku":"9780691089591","price":20.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780691089591.jpg?v=1776037927"},{"product_id":"against-interpretation-and-other-essays","title":"Against Interpretation: And Other Essays","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA reissue of Susan Sontag's classic first collection, featuring some of her most beloved writing\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eon art, life, camp, and criticism\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e--that cemented her legacy as one of the brightest thinkers of, and beyond, her generation.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSusan Sontag is widely regarded as one of the most formidable, original, and influential writers of the last century. \u003ci\u003eAgainst Interpretation\u003c\/i\u003e is a modern classic, her first-ever collection and the work that launched her storied career when it was published in 1966. It has influenced generations of readers, and still contains some of her best-known essays, including \"Notes on Camp,\" \"Against Interpretation,\" and a dazzling range of, well, interpretations. Grand in scope--ranging from philosophy to film to religion to psychoanalysis--and short in length, this pocket-sized, pithy, and profound book introduces \"a larger-than-life intellectual powerhouse\" (Leslie Jamison).\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1250374758\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781250374752\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Sontag, Susan\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Picador USA\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Picador USA","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Apr 2025)","offer_id":46080626819269,"sku":"9781250374752","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781250374752.jpg?v=1776039122"},{"product_id":"reality-hunger-a-manifesto","title":"Reality Hunger: A Manifesto","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA landmark book, \"brilliant, thoughtful\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e) and \"raw and gorgeous\" (\u003ci\u003eLA Times\u003c\/i\u003e), that fast-forwards the discussion of the central artistic issues of our time, from the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWho owns ideas? 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Forthright and thought-provoking, and as accessible as it is intellectually rigorous, this introduction to the philosophy of beauty draws conclusions that some may find controversial, but, as Scruton shows, help us to find greater sense of meaning in the beautiful objects that fill our lives.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0199229759\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780199229758\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Scruton, Roger\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Oxford University Press\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Apr 2011)","offer_id":46099776798917,"sku":"9780199229758","price":12.34,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780199229758.jpg?v=1776644661"},{"product_id":"on-quality-an-inquiry-into-excellence-unpublished-and-selected-writings","title":"On Quality: An Inquiry Into Excellence: Unpublished and Selected Writings","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFeaturing long-awaited selections from Robert M. 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Pirsig had already caught hold of the central theme that would animate \u003cem\u003eZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance\u003c\/em\u003e: \"Quality,\" a concept loosely likened to \"excellence,\" \"rightness,\" or \"fitness\" that Pirsig saw as kindred to the Buddhist ideas of \"dharma\" or the \"Tao.\" As he later wrote in Zen, \"Quality is the Buddha.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThough he was revered by fans who considered him a guru, the famously private Pirsig published only two books and consented to few interviews and almost no public appearances in later decades. Yet he wrote and thought almost continually, refining his \"Metaphysics of Quality\" until his death in 2017.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, for the first time, readers will be granted access to five decades of Pirsig's personal writings in this posthumous collection that illuminates the evolution of his thinking to an unprecedented degree. Skillfully edited and introduced by Wendy K. Pirsig, Robert's wife of four decades, the collection includes previously unpublished texts, speeches, letters, interviews, and private notes, as well as key excerpts from \u003cem\u003eZen and the Art of the Motorcycle Maintenance\u003c\/em\u003e and his second book, \u003cem\u003eLila\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince its publication in 1974, \u003cem\u003eZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance\u003c\/em\u003e has established itself as a modern classic of popular philosophy; selling millions of copies and inspiring a generation, while serving as a perennial touchstone for the generations that follow. \u003cem\u003eOn Quality\u003c\/em\u003e is a remarkable contribution to our understanding of one of the most influential thinkers and writers of our time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0063084651\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780063084650\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Pirsig, Robert M., Pirsig, Wendy K.\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Mariner Books Classics\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Mariner Books Classics","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Apr 2024)","offer_id":46099875004613,"sku":"9780063084650","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780063084650.jpg?v=1776646095"},{"product_id":"selah-a-bayo-akomolafe-reader","title":"Selah: A Báyò Akómoláfé Reader","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eA profound, playful, and kaleidoscopic collection from one of our most evocative contemporary philosopher-poets.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA posthumanist polymath and \"trans-public\" intellectual, Báyò Akómoláfé has produced a vast body of work that represents a startling picture of the world in perpetual process and radical relation. Through an ever-growing archive of books, articles, interviews, films, social media posts, workshops, and rituals, Akómoláfé seeks to interrogate the fundamental assumptions and epistemological blind spots of our current culture in crisis. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eSelah: A Báyò Akómoláfé Reader\u003c\/i\u003e presents a poetically arranged selection of Akómoláfés short-form writings, which draw inspiration from Édouard Glissant; Gilles Deleuze; Gregory Bateson; Octavia Butler; Fernand Deligny; Chinua Achebe; the adventures of Esu, the Yoruba monster-trickster and crossroads figure; and more. A tightly curated composition of aphorisms, anti-epiphanies, prose poems, and philosophical fragments, \u003ci\u003eSelah\u003c\/i\u003e invites readers into the thicket of Akómoláfé's thought, weaving together threads of his most critically creative concepts--such as ontofugitivity, ecocognitive assemblage theory, parapolitics, and postactivism. Taking its title from an enigmatic Hebrew word that appears throughout the Book of Psalms--one that suggests a moment of ecstatic exclamation or musical notation--\u003ci\u003eSelah \u003c\/i\u003eis a book that can be read in an hour or studied for years, kept by your bedside or passed among friends like an open secret. For those already swimming in the depths of Akómoláfé's language, as well as those encountering his dynamic body of work for the first time, \u003ci\u003eSelah\u003c\/i\u003e offers an accessible and ecstatic entry into a visionary thinker's signature thought and poetics. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelah\u003ci\u003e is the second title from Aora Books, a publishing imprint dedicated to exploring transformational thought and culture that transcends borders, disciplines, and traditions. Rooted in an ethos of polyvocality and planetary consciousness, Aora publishes works that forge bold connections across time, place, ideas, and beings often seen as separate. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1961814315\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781961814318\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Akómoláfé, Báyò, Pearlstein, Eden, Dragomer, Krista\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Aora\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Aora","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Mar 2026)","offer_id":46100308295877,"sku":"9781961814318","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781961814318.jpg?v=1776648880"},{"product_id":"lipstick","title":"Lipstick","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom Revlon to Glossier, from Marilyn to Gaga, lipstick is as shape-shifting and unwieldy as femininity itself. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWho wears lipstick today - as a matter of routine? And for those who do, is it out of obligation to a strict feminine standard, or some other reason entirely? \u003ci\u003eLipstick\u003c\/i\u003e reconsiders the beauty world's most conspicuous - and contentious - tool of artifice. Tossing expired ideas about femininity like so many tubes of melting wax, \u003ci\u003eLipstick\u003c\/i\u003e explores how self-adornment can be a source of play, pleasure, and transformation, as well as how lipstick can knock gender norms off balance.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-13: 9798765135587\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: G'Sell, Eileen, Bogost, Ian, Schaberg, Christopher\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Bloomsbury Academic\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Feb 2026)","offer_id":46100309246149,"sku":"9798765135587","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9798765135587.jpg?v=1776648888"},{"product_id":"in-praise-of-shadows-and-other-essays","title":"In Praise of Shadows and Other Essays","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"In Praise of Shadows belongs to that special order of slim, enormously powerful books that enchant the lay reader with an esoteric subject, leaving a lifelong imprint on the imagination.\"\u003c\/i\u003e --Maria Popova\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eIllustrated with artful images by renowned Kyoto-based photographer John Einarsen, this book is a \"must-have\" for all fans of Japanese literature and anyone interested in Japanese art and design.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThese all-new translations of four landmark essays by Junichiro Tanizaki bring fresh insights to the work of one of Japan's most acclaimed writers. The translations by Michael P. Cronin bring together Tanizaki's famous meditation on Japanese aesthetics with three other fascinating cultural commentaries that appear here in English for the first time: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\"In Praise of Shadows\"\u003c\/b\u003e Tanizaki's best-known work--an ode to the subtle, refined aesthetic of Japan and the dangers posed to it by rapid modernization\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\"At Okamoto\"\u003c\/b\u003e A reflection on Tanizaki's nostalgia for old Tokyo and his humorous attempts at writing poetry\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\"Hanshin Observations\"\u003c\/b\u003e An early essay revealing Tanizaki's initial disdain for the Osaka region, where he moved following the 1923 earthquake that destroyed Tokyo\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\"Osaka and Osakans as I See Them\"\u003c\/b\u003e An account of Tanizaki's nuanced love for Japan's second city, his adopted home and the setting for his masterpiece, \u003ci\u003eThe Makioka Sisters\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 4805319356\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9784805319352\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Tanizaki, Junichiro, Cronin, Michael P.\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Tuttle Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Tuttle Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (May 2026)","offer_id":46291789381829,"sku":"9784805319352","price":15.19,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9784805319352.jpg?v=1780113087"},{"product_id":"drunken-silenus","title":"Drunken Silenus","description":"The Drunken Silenus is a book that is as hard to categorize as it is to put down--an enlightening and mesmerizing blend of philosophy, history, and art criticism. Morgan Meis begins simply enough, with a painting by the Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens of the figure from Greek mythology who is mentor to Dionysus, god of wine and excess of every kind. We learn who this obscure, minor god is--why he must attend on the god who dies and must be re-born and educated all over again--and why Rubens depicted him not as a character out of a farce, but as one whose plight evokes pity and compassion. The narrative spirals out from there, taking in the history of Antwerp, bloody seventeenth-century religious wars, tales of Rubens's father's near-execution for sleeping with William of Orange's wife, Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy and the impossibility of there being any meaning to human life, and the destruction of all civilization by nefarious forces within ourselves. All of this is conveyed in language that crackles with intelligence, wit, and dark humor--a voice that at times sounds a bit tipsy and garrulous, but which ultimately asks us to confront the deepest questions of meaning, purpose, and hope in the face of death and tragedy.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 163982054X\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781639820542\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Meis, Morgan\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Slant Books\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Slant Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Apr 2020)","offer_id":46291835060421,"sku":"9781639820542","price":18.05,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781639820542.jpg?v=1780113154"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.inveni.store\/collections\/philosophy-aesthetics.oembed","provider":"Inveni","version":"1.0","type":"link"}