Marcella Tarozzi Goldsmith , an independent scholar, is the author of Nonrepresentational Forms of the Comic: Humor, Irony, and Jokes.

"The originality of this work, its broad scope, and the author's familiarity with the work of contemporary European and American aestheticians and philosophers make this work a valuable asset to those interested in aesthetics." — symplokeu"I like the introduction of the idea of the sublime as a crucial factor in art, which then allows the author to criticize Nietzsche's nihilism. The book has the courage to object to several 'politically correct' views of art: art as purely subjective, art as style, art as valueless and thus part of the nihilist movement." — Wilfried Ver Eecke, Georgetown University"The author knowledgeably discusses an extremely wide range both of aesthetic theories spanning continental and 'analytic' traditions and of art works from antiquity to the most recent postmodern experiments. She addresses many of the most important issues in aesthetic theory and she writes with consummate style. Although the literature in aesthetics is vast, Goldsmith's book manages to address a wider array of aesthetic theory than other contemporary accounts." — Richard Dien Winfield, author of Stylistics: Rethinking the Artforms After Hegel

• Acknowledgments Introduction Part OneThe Historical Side of Aesthetics Chapter 1The Birth of Aesthetics Art on the Offensive; The Role of Imagination; Self-transcendence; Desire's Ignorance; Faust, Never Lost in Desire; Desiring the Will; The Despairing Will Chapter 2Art as the Organon of Philosophy Real/Ideal; Salvific Intuition; Myths versus Mysticism; After Schelling; Prosaic Myths; Art's Futurity; The Necessity of Art Chapter 3Philosophy as the Organon of Art Sic Transit; Hegel's Triptychs; Beauty Surpassed; The Ultimate Rationality; Myths and the Symbol; The Symbolic Sublime; The Circle; Conclusion Part TwoArt's New Truth Chapter 4Apprehending the New The Subject Transformed; The Hidden Truth; Philosophic Art and Aesthetics; The Emerging Meaning; The Function of Art; Neutrality; Art as the Organon ofArt Chapter 5From Artifice to the Will Art Uprooted from Truth; Nietzsche's Appearance; Expected Tragedies; Rhetoric First; Being and Art: The Axis Nietzsche-Heidegger; Art: The Truth of the Nonexistent; The Sublimity of Nihilism Chapter 6The Nothingness of Art The Repercussions of Nihilism; Utopia and Nihilism: The Two Faces of the Aesthetic; Renouncing the Beautiful; Unprecedented Form; Metaphor; Sublime Allegory; The Aesthetics of Negativity; Conclusion Part ThreeSubjective Aesthetics Chapter 7The Role of Subjectivity Art: Imagining the True; New Sensations; Hermeneutics; The Unconscious Subject; The Ineffable; Tragedy and Comedy; Sublime Sublimity; Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index