This concise yet comprehensive introduction to the discipline of western aesthetical philosophy is focused directly on the central questions of aesthetics. Fenner arranges his analysis around four general themes—Experiences, Objects and Events, Meaning, and Judgment—that progress from issues of everyday experience to subjects of greater subtlety. Within these broader themes, Fenner explores such issues as The Aesthetic Attitude, Defining Art, and Reviewing Art Criticism.

Although a historical organization is employed wherever a particular movement unfolds from earlier movements, the text's main organization is not motivated by an academic or historical treatment of the various topics. Instead, the topics themselves are of primary concern, in such a way that readers will come away with a complete overview of the canon of this highly significant area of western philosophy.