Art and Emotion

`a rich and carefully developed set of positions on topics central to aesthetics.' Susan L. Feagin, Mind, Vol.109, No.435, July 2000. `Matravers writes very well about expression ... giving us a sharp account of Goodman on expression and metaphor and a convincing and extended critique of various forms of 'cognitivism'.' Michael McGee, British Jnl for Aesthetics, Vol.40, No.3, July 2000. `this substantial and admirably fair-minded book ... the author offers a lively challenge to the 'cognitivist' view ... and defends an unfashionable 'arousal theory' to replace it. He does this well and definitively.' Michael McGee, British Jnl for Aesthetics, Vol.40, No.3, July 2000. `it is refreshing to find a philosopher writing on aesthetics extensively illustrating his arguments with our experience of music in a field usually dominated by the visual arts ... This is a complex book, but it is also an important and convincing one and should be read by anyone interested in the relation between art and the emotions.' John Shand, Times Higher Education Supplement `Art and Emotion is an ambitious and bold defence of views about emotional response and expression that have in general been dismissed far too quickly. Though one may disagree with Matravers' conclusions, he has produced a rich and carefully developed set of positions on topics central to aesthetics and shown that they recive our serious scrutiny.' Susan L Feagin, Mind 2000