Richard Wollheim – författare

‘A lucid well-organized expose of the theory and the manner of its development.’Times Literary SupplementThis remarkable book is a biography of an unusual kind. It is at once the life of a mind at work, and the story of a long and intricate process of discovery. It takes the form of a stern and uncompromising analysis, and yet the author is so much in tune with his subject that the personality, and even the feelings, of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and his contemporaries emerge from that analysis. Readers will also sense the effect of the frightening enlargement of the known area of human unhappiness that Freud’s work revealed.

Richard Wollheim's (1923-2003) was the leading voice in the philosophy of art in the Anglo-American tradition during the second half of the twentieth century. This volume serves two purposes. First, at the time of his death, Wollheim was composing a short book, comprising two lectures first delivered, respectively, at Barcelona and at Lawrence, Kansas--versions of which appeared in 1994 ('On Formalism and Its Kinds') and 2001 ('On Formalism and Pictorial Organisation')--plus substantial new material. The whole text is reproduced here for the first time. The material offers new considerations in favour of his psychological conception of pictorial art as against the semiotic conception, arguments for the inadequacy of formalism, and close and compelling analyses of pictures by Ruisdael, Monet, and others, using in novel ways his well-known ideas in pictorial aesthetics to arrive at a theory of pictorial organisation. Second, although Wollheim was well-served by various collections of his work to 1994, at that point some important articles and reviews had yet to be selected for republication--in some cases available only in locations difficult to access--as well as his having published further work after 1994. The present volume fills both gaps: it thus provides the final pieces for a complete collection of Wollheim's works in the philosophy of art.This is one of three planned volumes of Wollheim's previously uncollected work for Oxford University Press. The others are Writing on Political Philosophy, edited by Jonathan Wolff; and Writing on Philosophy and the Mind, edited by Garry Hagberg.

Richard Wollheim (1923-2003)is best known as a path-breaking philosopher of art and of mind, but his work on political philosophy is a major third strand of his writing. This volume of previously uncollected papers ranges over a number of topics, but several themes recur: a concern for the workings of democracy; a robust defence of individual liberty; great respect for individuality and individual differences and the vital roles of education and culture. There are also studies of the thought of John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell, and Isaiah Berlin. Wollheim's distinctive voice is a constant: wit, verve, sophistication, erudition, and subtlety. The originality and penetration of his thinking is apparent throughout. He is always to be seen thinking things through for himself, often in reaction to the great philosophers, sometimes (though relatively rarely) with the assistance of contemporaries, but always with the determination of getting to the bottom of things, with a distinctive approach that remains full of fresh insights.

Leading philosopher Richard Wollheim recruits into service the insights of literature and of psychoanalysis, as well as of philosophy, in this rich and thought-provoking account of the emotions. Starting from the premise that emotions form a distinct psychological category, Wollheim argues that they are—like beliefs and desires—dispositions or underlying forces in the mind that erupt from time to time into the stream of consciousness. However, to assimilate emotions to beliefs or to desires or to some combination of the two is quite wrong. Emotions are attitudes or orientations to the world, says the author, and in this regard they are naturally associated with the imagination.The book considers what emotions are, how they arise in our lives, and how standard and "moral" emotions differ. Wollheim writes within the analytic tradition, yet decisively abandons a number of assumptions associated with that tradition and instead develops what he calls the psychologization, or repsychologization, of the emotions. Addressing repsychologization of the mind and its contents as a major theme, the author offers sustained discussion of the opinions of Sartre, William James, Freud, Melanie Klein, Stendhal, Montaigne, and Bertrand Russell.

In this distinguished book, first published in 1984, Richard Wollheim offers an original approach to the philosophical understanding of a person. Countering prevailing theories on the nature of persons, Wollheim submits an account of the mind dynamically conceived and proposes that we take as fundamental the process of living as a person. To illuminate this process, the author draws on psychoanalysis and literature, in particular the case studies of Freud and the writings of Proust.“Wollheim’s is a very original and extremely interesting approach to the philosophy of the mind, bringing together three areas of reflection not often combined: the philosophy of mind, psychoanalysis, and ethics.”—Bernard Williams, University of California, Berkeley“There are only a few people who can write intelligently and insightfully about psychoanalysis and philosophy. Richard Wollheim is pre-eminent.”—Jonathan Lear, University of Chicago

Philosophers are increasingly coming to recognize the importance of Freudian theory for the understanding of the mind. The picture Freud presents of the mind's growth and organization holds implications not just for such perennial questions as the relation of mind and body, the nature of memory and personal identity, the interplay of cognitive and affective processes in reasoning and acting, but also for the very way in which these questions are conceived and an interpretation of the mind is sought. This volume of essays, by some of today's leading philosophers, explores all these topics, as well as the methods, results and status of the theory itself, while two 'classical' discussions by Wittgenstein and Sartre are also included. A number of the contributions - those by Donald Davidson, W. D. Hart, Jim Hopkins, Adam Morton, David Pears and Richard Wollheim - have not been published before, and a very useful bibliography is provided. It is an anthology that will be vital to anyone interested in Freudian theory and, more generally, in philosophical psychology.

The mind as it is manifested in philosophy and art, in the moral life and psychoanalysis, has always been at the core of Richard Wollheim’s celebrated work. This book brings together Wollheim’s broad and abiding concerns to illuminate human thought at its furthest reaches of introspection and expression. Interweaving philosophy, psychoanalysis, and aesthetics, these essays reveal the critical connections between ideas and disciplines too often regarded as separate and distinct.

One of the twentieth century’s most influential texts on philosophical aestheticsPainting as an Art is acclaimed philosopher Richard Wollheim’s encompassing vision of how to view art. Transcending the traditional boundaries of art history, Wollheim draws on his three great passions—philosophy, psychology, and art—to present an illuminating theory of the very experience of art. He shows how to unlock the meaning of a painting by retrieving—almost reenacting—the creative activity that produced it. In order to fully appreciate a work of art, Wollheim argues, critics must bring a much richer conception of human psychology than they have in the past. This classic book points the way to discovering what is most profound and subtle about paintings by major artists such as Titian, Bellini, and de Kooning.

Richard Wollheim's classic reflection on art considers central questions regarding expression, representation, style, the significance of the artist's intention and the essentially historical nature of art. Presented in a fresh series livery for the twenty-first century, with a specially commissioned preface written by Richard Eldridge, illuminating its continuing importance and relevance to philosophical enquiry, Art and its Objects continues to be a perceptive and engaging introduction to the questions and philosophical issues raised by works of art and the part they play in our culture and society. Wollheim's insights into theories of art, criticism, perception and the nature of aesthetic value make this one of the most influential works on aesthetics of the twentieth century.

Richard Wollheim's classic reflection on art considers central questions regarding expression, representation, style, the significance of the artist's intention and the essentially historical nature of art. Presented in a fresh series livery for the twenty-first century, with a specially commissioned preface written by Richard Eldridge, illuminating its continuing importance and relevance to philosophical enquiry, Art and its Objects continues to be a perceptive and engaging introduction to the questions and philosophical issues raised by works of art and the part they play in our culture and society. Wollheim's insights into theories of art, criticism, perception and the nature of aesthetic value make this one of the most influential works on aesthetics of the twentieth century.