Undoing Aesthetics

`The aestheticization of everyday life’ has become a commonplace term, one which often merely scratches the surface of contemporary culture. This study illuminates the deeper dynamics of aesthetic reality from a philosophical perspective.

Wolfgang Welsch, author of the influential Aesthetic Thinking, develops an important analysis of contemporary culture with philosophical bite. He examines global aestheticization phenomena, probes the relationship of aesthetics and ethics, and considers the broad relevance of aesthetics for contemporary thinking. He argues that modes of thought familiar from the aesthetic realm comprise fundamental paradigms for understanding today’s reality. The implications for specific and everyday issues are demonstrated in studies of architecture, advertising, the Internet and our perception of the life world.

Author Biography

Wolfgang Welsch is professor of philosophy at the Otto-Von-Guericke University in Magdeburg. He is the author of many works in German, two of which will shortly be available in English translations: Aesthetic Thinking; and Our Postmodern Modern (both forthcoming from The Humanities Press).