Abstract
The book presents nine selected topics of contemporary aesthetics. They are the definition of art, ontology of art, the value of art, art and forgery, high versus popular art, art and ideology, art and copyright law, environmental aesthetics, and feminist aesthetics.
Its goal is to introduce readers to these problem areas of philosophical aesthetics and acquaint them with the solutions offered by these as well as their respective approaches and appropriate terminology. This goal is achieved primarily through original survey texts included as an introduction to each of the nine chapters.
Each of these are followed by two carefully selected studies, the authors of which - representing both the anglo-american analytical and continental philosophical traditions - often take on the polemical problems from diverging positions.