Art Rethought

"Readers from many backgrounds will find much of interest in this book, for the close relationship of issues in aesthetics to other philosophical debates is frequently noted and pursued. Wolterstorff's theory is appealing, as is his depth and breadth of learning. His examples are far-ranging and refreshing, and it is to be hoped that his attention to these neglected subjects will spur others also to take them seriously." -- Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online

Nicholas Wolterstorff is Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University, and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He is the author of many books, including Understanding Liberal Democracy (OUP, 2012) and Works and Worlds of Art (Clarendon Press, 1980).

Introduction ; PART ONE: THE GRAND NARRATIVE OF ART IN THE MODERN WORLD ; 1. The Early Modern Revolution in the Arts ; 2. Why the Revolution? ; 3. The Grand Narrative and the Grand Narrative Theses ; 4. Wherein Lies the Worth of Disinterested Attention? ; 5. Art, Religion, and the Grand Narrative ; PART TWO: WHY THE GRAND NARRATIVE HAS TO GO ; 6. The Inapplicability of the Grand Narrative to Recent Art ; 7. Why the Grand Narrative Never Was Tenable ; PART THREE: A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR THINKING ABOUT THE ARTS ; 8. The Arts as Social Practices ; 9. Meaning of Works of the Arts and Artworks ; PART FOUR: MEMORIAL ART ; 10. The Social Practices of Memorial Art ; 11. The Memorial Meaning of the Mural Art of Belfast ; PART FIVE: ART FOR VENERATION ; 12. The Social Practices of Art for Veneration ; PART SIX: SOCIAL PROTEST ART ; 13. The Social Practices of Social Protest Art ; 14. The Social Protest Meaning of Uncle Tom's Cabin ; 15. The Social Protest Meaning of the Graphic Art of Kathe Kollwitz ; PART SEVEN: ART THAT ENHANCES ; 16. Work Songs: Social Practice and Meaning ; PART EIGHT: THE ART-REFLEXIVE ART OF TODAY'S ART WORLD ; 17. The Social Practices of Art-Reflexive Art ; 18. Art-Reflexive Meaning in the Work of Sherrie Levine ; EPILOGUE: GOOD WORKS AND JUST PRACTICES ; 19. What Happened to Beauty? ; 20. The Pursuit of Justice and the Social Practices of Art