Philosophies of art remain dominated by visions of its end and lamentations of decline. Defining the very notions of art and the aesthetic as special products of Western modernity, they suggest that postmodern challenges to traditional high culture pose a devastating danger to art's future. Richard Shusterman's book aims to cut through the confusions of these views by tracing the roots of aesthetic experience and showing how the flourishing of aesthetic forms outside modernity's sacralized realm of fine art evince the persistent presence of an artistic impulse far deeper and more durable than the modernist movement. The book defends the abiding power of aesthetic experience by exploring its diverse roles, methods and meanings, especially in fields marginal to traditional aesthetics but now most vibrantly alive in modern culture and new media. Ranging from rap, techno and country music to cinema, cyberspace and urban design, Shusterman develops his theory of "somaesthetics", charting the complex network of bodily arts so prominent in contemporary life and self-styling. By blending concrete aesthetic analysis with insightful social critique, Shusterman hopes to provide a rich menu and critical guide for the pursuit of the art of living.