scholarly journals "This Immense Expense of Art": George Eliot and John Ruskin on Consumption and the Limits of Sympathy

2010 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Coit
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
George Eliot ◽  
Consumer Ethics ◽  
John Ruskin ◽  
Moral Thought ◽  
Aesthetic Pleasure ◽  
The Aesthetic

Emily Coit, "'This Immense Expense of Art': George Eliot and John Ruskin on Consumption and the Limits of Sympathy" (pp. 214––245) This essay attempts to better our understanding of George Eliot's conservatism by examining a body of ideas about consumption and moral obligation that she and John Ruskin share. I use a discussion of consumer ethics to explore the moral logic of their conservatism by examining the role of the aesthetic within it. Economic consumption and the aesthetic are subjects inextricably connected, not just because the discourses of political economy and aesthetics have a shared origin in eighteenth-century moral philosophy, but also because the discourse of aesthetics has long served to legitimize select modes and acts of consumption. By marking out a limit where one may reasonably cease to sympathize and instead devote energy (and money) to personal gratification, the treatment of consumption in George Eliot's Middlemarch (1871) offers an important articulation of moral thought. Eliot suggests that aesthetic pleasure can make consumption morally defensible, but she also anticipates Pierre Bourdieu's critique of the aesthetic: her novel represents both the display of cultural capital and the exercise of the aesthetic disposition as ways of maintaining social and economic hierarchies. She thus at once critiques and participates in the system within which the aesthetic functions to preserve social and political stasis. Using John Ruskin's economic writings to expose Middlemarch as a novel of consumer ethics, this essay examines Eliot's representation of personal economic consumption as an emergent mode of social and political agency that might operate productively within that stasis.

Beyond Rhetoric

2021 ◽  
pp. 322-364
Author(s):  
Danuta Mirka
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
String Quartets ◽  
Musical Form ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Multiple Agency

The chapter starts with the discussion of the aesthetic category of “humorous music,” which emerged in the last decade of the eighteenth century, and links it to the theory of multiple agency, proposed by Edward Klorman (2016). There follow two case studies of hypermetric manipulations in the first movements of Haydn’s string quartets Op. 50 No. 3 and Op. 64 No. 1. These analyses reveal how such manipulations act in concert with ingenious deployment of musical topics and contrapuntal-harmonic schemata, and how they affect musical form. The chapter closes with remarks about the role of the first violinist in Haydn’s string quartets.

scholarly journals rythme dans la poésie africaine : entre monotonie et dynamisme

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 415-432
Author(s):  
Aboubakar Gounougo
Keyword(s):  
Premier Lieu ◽  
Aesthetic Pleasure ◽  
Construction Of Meaning ◽  
Emotional Category ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Way

El ritmo, en el centro del texto, es una cuestión que rara vez se aborda por su cuenta. Sin embargo, aunque carece de sentido, el papel del ritmo en la construcción del sentido en el texto es sumamente esencial. Así pues, el ritmo, aunque no tenga sentido, tiene sentido por la forma en que interviene en la secuencia de texto. A este respecto, se resuelven muchas cuestiones dentro del texto, en particular las relativas a la fijación del sentido, así como las vinculadas a la expresión de la obsesión y de la emoción. Todas estas son cuestiones que preocupan nuestra reflexión actual, a través de dos puntos esenciales a este respecto y que nos llevan, en primer lugar, a interrogarnos sobre la problemática de la construcción del equilibrio entre el contenido y la forma en las secuencias de texto; en segundo lugar, el proceso al término del cual nace la categoría emocional, condición del placer estético del texto. Rhythm, at the heart of the text, is an issue that is rarely addressed for its own sake. Yet, although it has no meaning, the role of rhythm in the construction of meaning in the text is most essential. It is thus that the rhythm, in the absence of meaning, makes sense, however, by the way it intervenes in the sequence of text. It is in this respect that a number of questions are resolved within the text, particularly those relating to the fixing of meaning, as well as those relating to the expression of obsession and emotion. These are all questions which concern our present reflection, through two essential points on this subject and which lead us, in the first place, to question the problem of the construction of the balance between the content and the form in the textual sequences; second, the process at the end of which the emotional category takes birth, condition of the aesthetic pleasure of the text. Le rythme, au cœur du texte, est un problème rarement abordé pour lui-même. Pourtant, bien qu'il n'ait aucun sens, le rôle du rythme dans la construction du sens dans le texte est le plus essentiel. C'est ainsi que le rythme, en l'absence de sens, prend tout son sens, par sa façon d'intervenir dans la séquence du texte. C'est à cet égard qu'un certain nombre de questions sont résolues dans le texte, notamment celles relatives à la fixation du sens, ainsi que celles relatives à l'expression de l'obsession et de l'émotion. Autant de questions qui concernent notre réflexion actuelle, à travers deux points essentiels sur ce sujet et qui nous conduisent, en premier lieu, à questionner le problème de la construction de l'équilibre entre le contenu et la forme dans les séquences textuelles; deuxièmement, le processus au terme duquel prend naissance la catégorie émotionnelle, condition du plaisir esthétique du texte.

A Cultural History of Memory in the Eighteenth Century

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Age Of Revolution ◽  
Arts And Sciences ◽  
The Arts ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Aesthetic

The Cultural History of Memory in the Eighteenth Century places in sharp relief the contrast between inspiring ideas that heralded an auspicious future and immemorial traditions that cherished a vanishing past. Waxing large during that era was the European Enlightenment, with its projects for reform and optimistic forecasts about the prospect of making a better world. Heritage was reframed, as martyrs for the cause of religious liberty and heroes for the promotion of the arts and sciences were enshrined in a new pantheon. They served as icons marking a pathway toward a presumed destiny, amid high hopes that reason would triumph over superstition to guide the course of human affairs. Such sentiments gave reformers a new sense of collective identity as an imagined community acting in the name of progress. Against this backdrop, this volume addresses a variety of themes in memory’s multi-faceted domain, among them mnemonic schemes in the transition from theist to scientific cosmologies; memory remodeled in the making of print culture; memory’s newfound resources for introspection; politics reimagined for the modern age; the nature of tradition reconceived; the aesthetics of nostalgia for an aristocracy clinging to a tenuous identity; the lure of far-away places; trauma in an age of revolution; and the emerging divide between history and collective memory. Along the way, contributors address such topics as the idea of nation in early modern politics; the aesthetic vision of Hubert Robert in his garden landscapes; the transforming effects of the interaction between mind and its mnemonic satellites in print media; Shakespeare remembered and commemorated; the role of memory in the redesign of historiography; the mediation of high and popular culture through literature; soul-searching in female autobiography; and commemorative practices during the French Revolution.

scholarly journals Leo Tolstoy's moralizing in context of ethical and aesthetic synthesis

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (43) ◽  
pp. 257-263
Author(s):  
Svetlana A. Simonova ◽  
Tatiana V. Shvetsova ◽  
Marina A. Shtanko ◽  
Denis G. Bronnikov ◽  
Alexei A. Mikhailov
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Leo Tolstoy ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Aesthetic Theory ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
Aesthetic Pleasure ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The One

The article examines the moralizing of Leo Tolstoy on the example of his theoretical ideas. The authors, examining their genesis, come to the conclusion that the writer formed his ideas under the influence of French enlighteners and sentimentalists, on the one hand, and absorbed the ethical dominant of Russian culture, on the other hand. The article analyzes the idea of absolutizing good, which runs through Tolstoy's entire aesthetic theory as a leitmotif. As a result of the study of the aesthetic views of the writer, it is concluded that Tolstoy understood the role of art solely as a translation of feelings and a means of communication. The writer deprives art of its aura of mystery and does not recognize the latter as a source of aesthetic pleasure and spiritual enrichment. The article analyzes the worldview of the writer, reveals the influence on him of the experience acquired by Tolstoy in childhood and adolescence. Tolstoy's works of art and theoretical views are another example of the fact that the artist's worldview does not always coincide with his work.

Conclusion

2019 ◽  
pp. 174-194
Author(s):  
Anna Bull
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Gender Identities ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Middle Classes ◽  
The Aesthetic

The conclusion lays out four ways in which the tradition and practices of classical music form an ‘articulation’ with the middle classes: the formal modes of social organization that it requires; its modes of embodiment; its imaginative dimension; and the aesthetic of detail, precision, and ‘getting it right’. It argues that the aesthetic of classical music does the boundary-drawing work of retaining this as a middle-class space and practice, and within these spaces, classical music cultivates a form of selfhood characterized by emotional depth that is recognized as valuable. It draws out two ways in which this book contributes to a wider understanding of the middle classes: the ways in which gender identities structure classed reproduction, and the continuing role of classical music as legitimate culture conferring institutionalized cultural capital. Finally, it lays out ways forward for classical music in policy and practice.

Generality and Particularity in Moral Thought

2020 ◽  
pp. 75-102
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Søndergaard Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Moral Development ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Moral Life ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Moral Thought ◽  
Moral Theories

This chapter explores the role of particularities in moral thought and moral life and the forms of understanding of these particularities necessary in moral philosophy in order to substantiate the idea, developed in Chapter 3, that moral philosophy is a descriptive activity facing a dual task, both general and particular. The chapter falls into two parts. The first part is an investigation of the role of general principles in moral thought that aids an understanding of how far general descriptions (for example in the form of moral theories) may be of help to us in philosophy. The second part provides an understanding of the role of the particular in moral thought that serves to substantiate the claim that moral philosophy has to provide a substantial understanding of moral development, imagination, and discernment. This part also investigates whether the qualification of the role of general principles in moral thought can be reconciled with the idea that moral considerations are objective, universal, and absolute. The chapter concludes that moral philosophy should rediscover itself as one practice among others that aim to assist and improve moral life, while taking into account the most comprehensive understanding of human life.

scholarly journals A Virtual Space Built on a Canvas Painting for an “Augmented” Experience to Catch the Artist’s Message

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 641
Author(s):  
Salvatore Capotorto ◽  
Maria Lepore ◽  
Antonietta Varasano
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Space ◽  
Linear Perspective ◽  
Last Supper ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Sense Of Presence ◽  
Aesthetic Pleasure ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
The Aesthetic

“Entering” a canvas to examine and learn about the work from unexplored points of view is an experiential “journey” in an environment reconstructed through the use and integration of innovative technologies, such as descriptive geometry and digital photogrammetry, solid modeling and immersive photography. Generating a “sense of presence” in the viewer means connecting it with immediacy to the artist’s message and grasping even the most subtle elements of the painting that are difficult to understand, such as architectural inconsistencies or the play of perspectives that, very often, bring out the situations scripted, characterized by discoveries that prelude to the aesthetic pleasure as the multiplicity of meanings and the “stylistic overcoding” of the work is revealed. The research hypotheses were applied to a case study, or to the splendid “Last Supper” by the Flemish artist Gaspar Hovic, a canvas painted in oil (late 15th century AD) and kept in the Matrice SM Veterana Church di Triggiano (BA), where the representation of the suggestive moment of Jesus with the Apostles is carried out through numerous symbols, in an evocative architectural context rich in details. The pictorial subject provides a series of very interesting ideas suitable for research of the role of perspective. The inverse method of linear perspective was used to reveal the plants and sections corresponding to the perspective space of the painting, used as the basis for the reconstruction of the 3D model of the entire scenic composition. Although the painting represents the apparently rigorous application of the perspective technique, by “entering” the canvas it is possible to observe some exceptions to the geometric rules deliberately introduced by the artist, thus making the perspective restitution process an effective interpretative act of the work.

Descriptive Moral Philosophy

2020 ◽  
pp. 185-210
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Søndergaard Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Moral Life ◽  
Moral Orientation ◽  
Moral Philosopher ◽  
Moral Thought ◽  
Moral Change ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Moral Attention

The final chapter develops the conception of a descriptive, pluralistic, and elucidatory moral philosophy established throughout the book and investigates the relationship between moral philosophy and moral life. It expands on two central suggestions of this work, namely that moral philosophy is fundamentally descriptive, and that the moral cannot be delineated, but is a pervasive presence in moral life. This leads to a discussion of how we are to understand the practicality of moral philosophy, and how it can be said to be aiding moral life, namely by advancing moral orientation, by making recommendations for moral attention, and by inviting us to develop and engage with new forms of moral thought, even forms of moral change. A central discussion concerns the role of the moral philosopher, and it is argued that philosophical work is an activity that itself involves a two-sided responsibility, an inward responsibility to continuously work on one’s wants and expectations and an outward responsibility to continuously stay open and attentive towards the investigated phenomenon. The last section recapitulates and evaluates the work done in the book.

The Scourge of the Unwilling: George Eliot on the Sources of Normativity

2020 ◽  
pp. 140-172
Author(s):  
Patrick Fessenbecker
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
George Eliot ◽  
The Self ◽  
Altruistic Behavior ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Internal Coherence

In a notebook of 1877, George Eliot at one point muses on moral philosophy, asking “Of what stuff is virtue made?” and ending with the dramatic “What is the scourge of the unwilling?” Such questions show Eliot engaging one of the great questions of nineteenth-century moral philosophy: where does the obligatoriness of moral obligations come from? Or, more simply, why should one care about morality? Henry Sidgwick’s magisterial 1874 treatise The Methods of Ethics ultimately conceded defeat on this issue, concluding that there was no way to show the rational egoist that altruistic behavior was more rational than self-interested action. Eliot’s own attempts to answer this question, reflected in the narratives of Esther Lyon, Fred Vincy, and ultimately Gwendolen Harleth, depend on the role of shame in moral psychology, and in particular on the conditions necessary for maintaining the self-approval necessary for internal coherence and autonomy.

Imagination, in modern philosophy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Cottrell
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Modern Philosophy ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Mental Images ◽  
Standard View ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

In the modern philosophical period, the imagination (sometimes called the ‘fancy’) is standardly seen as a faculty for having mental images, and for making non-rational, associative transitions among such images. This standard view forms a common core of many modern philosophers’ theories of the imagination. Different philosophers elaborate upon it in different ways: for example, some add that there is a close connection between the imagination and the brain; some, that the imagination interacts with the passions in important ways; and some, that the imagination plays a crucial role in explaining how we create artworks and how we appreciate the aesthetic properties of things. The modern period saw several important controversies among philosophers who share the standard view of the imagination. Perhaps most importantly, Descartes, Arnauld and Nicole, Spinoza, and Leibniz argue that in addition to the faculty of the imagination, we have a faculty of pure intellect or pure understanding, while Hobbes, Gassendi, and Hume deny this. Other important controversies concern the relationship between imagination and reasoning, and the role of the imagination – if any – as a source of modal knowledge, that is, knowledge of what is possible rather than merely actual. Late in the eighteenth century, Reid and Kant criticized the standard view. Reid claims to disagree with his predecessors about the association of ideas and about the nature of mental images. (However, it is unclear whether he interprets his predecessors correctly; some of his objections may miss their mark.) For his part, Kant agrees with the standard view that the imagination is a faculty for having and associating mental images. But he argues that these reproductive functions of the imagination take place in the human mind thanks to different, productive functions of the imagination that earlier philosophers did not recognize. His account of these productive functions of the imagination plays a central role in his epistemology and aesthetics.

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