Art and Pornography

Philosophical Essays

Hans Maes (University of Kent), Jerrold Levinson (University of Maryland)

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English

Oxford University Press
01 November 2012

Theory of art; Erotic art; Literary theory; Ethical issues: pornography & obscenity

Art and Pornography presents a series of essays which investigate the artistic status and aesthetic dimension of pornographic pictures, films, and literature, and explores the distinction, if there is any, between pornography and erotic art. Is there any overlap between art and pornography, or are the two mutually exclusive? If they are, why is that? If they are not, how might we characterize pornographic art or artistic pornography, and how might pornographic art be distinguished, if at all, from erotic art? Can there be aesthetic experience of pornography? What are some of the psychological, social, and political consequences of the creation and appreciation of erotic art or artistic pornography? Leading scholars from around the world address these questions, and more, and bring together different aesthetic perspectives and approaches to this widely consumed, increasingly visible, yet aesthetically underexplored cultural domain. The book, the first of its kind in philosophical aesthetics, will contribute to a more accurate and subtle understanding of the many representations that incorporate explicit sexual imagery and themes, in both high art and demotic culture, in Western and non-Western contexts. It is sure to stir debate, and healthy controversy.

Edited by: Hans Maes (University of Kent), Jerrold Levinson (University of Maryland)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 239mm, Width: 162mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 674g
ISBN: 9780199609581
ISBN 10: 0199609586
Pages: 342
Publication Date: 01 November 2012
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Hans Maes received his PhD from the University of Leuven, Belgium, and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and University of Maryland, USA. He is currently Lecturer in History and Philosophy of Art at the University of Kent and Associate Director of the Aesthetics Research Group. He has authored papers on a variety of subjects in aesthetics, including the role of intention in the interpretation of art, the notion of free beauty, and the relation between art and pornography. In 2010 he was elected President of the Dutch Society for Aesthetics. Jerrold Levinson is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he has taught since 1976. He is the author of Music, Art, and Metaphysics (Cornell University Press, 1990), The Pleasures of Aesthetics (Cornell University Press, 1996), Music in the Moment (Cornell University Press, 1998), L=art, la musique, et l=histoire (Editions de l'eclat, 1998), La musique de film: fiction et narration (Presses Universitaires de Pau, 2000), and Contemplating Art (OUP, 2006), as well as editor of Aesthetics and Ethics (CUP, 1998) and The Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics (OUP, 2003), and co-editor of Aesthetic Concepts (OUP, 2001).

Reviews for Art and Pornography: Philosophical Essays

Maes and Levinsons book demonstrates clearly the wide range of current issues that connect aesthetics with pornography, and will be a landmark collection on the topic. Christopher Bartel, British Journal of Aesthetics There is much to like about this collection. First ... it is the first of its kind. Second, the collection connects debates about pornography in analytic feminist philosophy and aestheticsasomething that surprisingly seldom happens, but that could be extremely fruitful. Mari Mikkola, European Journal of Philosophy Art and Pornography is a very successful venture into a new region of aesthetics ... The book not only joins in the existing discussion-it succeeds in setting new standards for it. Pornography was largely treated as a fairly homogeneous phenomenon in the past, but the insightful unpacking of the concept offered by the authors, the instructive examples and analyses of less straightforward works, the exploration of its subgenres, and the attention given to artworks with clearly pornographic content leave a much more varied and interesting landscape. Such diversification opens multiple new avenues for research, and as the dispute over whether pornography can be art strongly leans toward a positive answer, the book provides an inspiration for inquiring into the value, characteristics. creation, and reception of pornographic art. Simon Fokt, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism Maes and Levinson's volume is important in orienting philosophers of art to contribute to reflection on pornography Natalie Nenadic, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews [Art and Pornography] breaks important ground. E. K. Mix, CHOICE