The Ideology of the Aesthetic presents a history and
critique of the concept of the aesthetic throughout modern Western
thought. As such, this is a critical survey of modern Western
philosophy, focusing in particular on the complex relations between
aesthetics, ethics and politics. Eagleton provides a brilliant and
challenging introduction to these concerns, as characterized in the
work of Kant, Schiller, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Marx, Nietzsche,
Freud, Heidegger, Lukacs, Adorno, Habermas, and others.
Wide in span, as well as morally and politically committed, this
is Terry Eagleton's major work to date. It forms both an original
enquiry and an exemplary introduction.
Author Biography
Terry Eagleton is Professor of Cultural Theory and John Rylands Fellow at the University of Manchester. His works include The Ideology of the Aesthetic (1990), Literacy Theory: An Introduction (1983), Walter Benjamin (1981) and Marxism and Literacy Criticism (1976).
