Feeling And Form: A Theory Of Art Developed From Philosophy In A New Key
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: No dust jacket - some marks on spine and corners
Pages: Tanning and foxing
What is art, and how does it give shape to the ineffable currents of human feeling? In Feeling and Form: A Theory of Art, philosopher Susanne K. Langer constructs a bold and systematic aesthetic theory, arguing that all art — from music and painting to poetry and dance — functions as a symbolic form that presents human feeling in a way that language alone cannot. Building directly upon the ideas she introduced in her landmark earlier work Philosophy in a New Key, Langer advances the proposition that artistic creation is not mere expression but a rigorous act of symbolic transformation, one that gives external, perceivable form to the inner life of consciousness. Langer writes with the precision of an analytic philosopher and the sweeping vision of a cultural theorist, weaving together insights from musicology, visual art, literature, and drama into a unified framework of aesthetic meaning. Her prose is dense yet luminous, demanding active engagement from the reader while rewarding them with a coherent and original vocabulary for understanding the arts. First published in 1953, this landmark text remains an indispensable cornerstone of twentieth-century aesthetics — and its central question, of how feeling becomes form, continues to challenge and captivate anyone who has ever stood before a work of art and wondered why it moves them so profoundly.
Author: Susanne K. Langer
Format: Hardback
Published: 1953, Charles Scribner's Sons
Genre: Philosophy
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: No dust jacket - some marks on spine and corners
Pages: Tanning and foxing
What is art, and how does it give shape to the ineffable currents of human feeling? In Feeling and Form: A Theory of Art, philosopher Susanne K. Langer constructs a bold and systematic aesthetic theory, arguing that all art — from music and painting to poetry and dance — functions as a symbolic form that presents human feeling in a way that language alone cannot. Building directly upon the ideas she introduced in her landmark earlier work Philosophy in a New Key, Langer advances the proposition that artistic creation is not mere expression but a rigorous act of symbolic transformation, one that gives external, perceivable form to the inner life of consciousness. Langer writes with the precision of an analytic philosopher and the sweeping vision of a cultural theorist, weaving together insights from musicology, visual art, literature, and drama into a unified framework of aesthetic meaning. Her prose is dense yet luminous, demanding active engagement from the reader while rewarding them with a coherent and original vocabulary for understanding the arts. First published in 1953, this landmark text remains an indispensable cornerstone of twentieth-century aesthetics — and its central question, of how feeling becomes form, continues to challenge and captivate anyone who has ever stood before a work of art and wondered why it moves them so profoundly.