Art in Three Dimensions

Art in Three Dimensions is a collection of essays by one of the most eminent figures in philosophy of art. The animating idea behind Noël Carroll's work is that philosophers of art should eschew the sort of aestheticism that often implicitly -- but sometimes explicitly, as in the case of aesthetic theories of art and of their commitments to the notion of the autonomy of art -- governs their methodology. Instead, Carroll argues that philosophers of art need to refocus their attention on the ways in which art enters the life of culture and the lives of individual audience members. The reference to "three dimensions" in the title refers to Carroll's view that philosophers of art should look at art from multiple angles and treat it as a substantial participant not only in society, but also as a significant influence upon the moral and emotional experiences of audiences.

Introduction. Part I: Art. 1. The Descent of Art. 2. Formalism. 3. Definitions of Art. 4. Art, Creativity, and Tradition. Part II: Aesthetic Experience. 5. Aesthetic Experience: A Question of Content. 6. Nonperceptual Aesthetic Properties. 7. Aesthetic Experience, Art, and Artists. Part III: Art and Value. 8. Art and Alienation. 9. Art and Recollection. 10. Art and the Moral Realm. 11. The Wheel of Virtue. 12. Art and the Ethical Domain. 13. Politics and Aesthetics. Part IV: Art and Affect. 14. Art and Human Nature. 15. Art and Mood. 16. On Some Affective Relations between Audiences and Characters in Popular Fictions. Part V: Narrative and Humor. 17. Narrative Closure. 18. Narrative and the Ethical Life. 19. Humor. 20. Two Comic Plots. Part VI: The Arts. 21. Philosophy and Drama: performance, Interpretation and Intentionality. 22. Literary Realism, Recognition, and the Communication of Knowledge. 23. Dance, Imitation, and Representation. 24. Feeling Movement: Music and Dance. 25. Music, Mind, and Morality: Arousing the Body Politic.

Noël Carroll is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the Graduate Center, the City University of New York. He is a former President of the American Society for Aesthetics.