SUNY Press Catalog - Spring 2009 - (Page 34) philosophy A VOLUME IN THE SUNY SERIES IN CONTEMPORARY CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY ru th rone n AESTHETICS OF ANXIETY Ruth Ronen Places anxiety at the heart of the aesthetic experience. Russon Sketch 06/07/08 PMS 3125C /Black John Russon BEArING WITNESS TO EPIPHANY Persons, Things, and the Nature of Erotic life John Russon Aesthetics of Anxiety www.sunypress.edu JANUArY • 208 pp 11 b/w photographs, 1 figure $65.00 jacketed hc 978-0-7914-7667-3 directtext dt e 34 P ronen Aesthetics of Anxiety suny What is the relation of anxiety to aesthetics? Aesthetics of Anxiety brings psychoanalysis into dialogue with aesthetics, providing provocative and original insights into aesthetic theory and experience. From Aristotle’s katharsis to the role played by pain and disgust in the aesthetics of the avantgarde, the notion of anxiety helps us understand the particular kind of discontent (or negative pleasure) that accompanies aesthetic experience. Anxiety, articulated through such notions as desire, the unconscious, and the real, is also presented as a productive tool for understanding the Kantian aesthetic categories of pleasure, beauty, the sublime, and genius. Aesthetics of Anxiety goes beyond the idea that there is anxiety in aesthetics to place anxiety at the very heart of aesthetic experience, thus transforming anxiety into a particularly aesthetic affect that becomes part of our understanding of every work of art, every act of creation. Ruth Ronen is Professor of Philosophy at Tel Aviv University and the author of Possible Worlds in Literary Theory and Representing the Real. A volume in the SUNY series, Insinuations: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Literature Charles Shepherdson, editor Bearing Witness to Epiphany Persons, Things, and the Nature of Erotic Life Makes the novel argument that erotic life is the real sphere of human freedom. In this probing sequel to the popular and award-winning Human Experience, John Russon asks, “What is it to be a person?” The answer: the key to our humanity lies in our sexuality, where we experience the freedom to shape identities creatively in cooperation with another. With grace and philosophical rigor, Russon shows that an exploration of sexuality not only illuminates the psychological dimensions of our interpersonal lives but also provides the basis for a new approach to ethics and politics. Responsibilities toward others, he contends, develop alongside our personal growth. Bearing Witness to Epiphany brings to light the essential relationship between ethical and political bonds and the development of our powers of expression, leading to a substantial study of the nature and role of art in human life. “…While continental philosophy has relentlessly deconstructed the classical form of the philosophy book, Russon has revived this form in a most compelling way. Russon’s writing is so lucid, that the book seems to read itself. More importantly, like Human Experience, Bearing Witness to Epiphany is the expression of profound thinking. This book should make it clear to everyone that John Russon is one of the few original voices working in continental philosophy today.” — Leonard Lawlor, coeditor of The Merleau-Ponty Reader John Russon is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Guelph and the author of Human Experience: Philosophy, Neurosis, and the Elements of Everyday Life, also published by SUNY Press. A volume in the SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy Dennis J. Schmidt, editor JANUArY • 176 pp • 5 figures $16.95 pb 978-1-4384-2504-7 $49.50 jacketed hc 978-1-4384-2503-0 e http://www.sunypress.edu http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61722 http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61770
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