Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
The Art Question - Nigel Warburton

The Art Question

By: Nigel Warburton

Paperback | 19 December 2002 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback


RRP $50.99

$49.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $12.44 with

 or 

Available for Backorder. We will order this from our supplier however there isn't a current ETA.

If an artist sends a live peacock to an exhibition, is it art? The question 'what is art?' is a question many of us want to know but are afraid to ask. It is the very question that Nigel Warburton demystifies in this brilliant, accessible and affordable book. With help of carefully chosen illustrations and photographs, from Cezanne and Van Gogh to Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol and the Osmond family, best-selling author Nigel Warburton brings a philosopher's eye to art in a refreshingly jargon-free style. Starting with the idea that art is simply significant form, he explains with his customary clarity much talked about but little understood theories of art: art as expression, art as family resemblance, the institutional theory of art. Throughout, he brings to life the arguments of the thinkers behind these theories, such as Clive Bell, R.G Collingwood and Wittgenstein. He also illuminates other perplexing problems in art, such as the artist's intention, representation and emotion, before drawing on photographs of Cindy Sherman and Tiananmen Square to show that we must consider each work of art on its own terms if we are ever to answer the art question. The Art Question is a stimulating and handy guide through the art maze and is essential reading for anyone interested in art and philosophy.
Industry Reviews

'Invaluable... a sound introduction.... Warburton guides the reader gently and accessibly through some of the most influential theories of the twentieth century... He deftly applies the standard tools of philosophy, such as counter-examples and the detection of circular reasoning, to a field that is prone to vagueness, pretentiousness and sometimes elastic notions of meaning and language.... an excellent introduction to the philosophy of art.' - Think

'Nigel Warburton brings a philosopher's eye to the debate ... to explore with admirable clarity, the factors that might turn a roomful of chocolate into a work of art, and why it matters.' - The Independent


'Nigel Warburton brings a philosopher's eye to the debate ... to explore with admirable clarity, the factors that might turn a roomful of chocolate into a work of art, and why it matters.' - The Independent

'It's amusing, entertaining and often inspiring stuff ... This book is a fulfilling and enriching experience.' - Gwyn Griffiths, Morning Star

'Entertaining... accesible tone and [with a] quiet humour along the way. - Art Monthly

'A very good book. Clear, concise and engaging.' - James Elkins, author of What Painting Is and Pictures and Tears

'Readable, fresh, lucid and engaging.' - Michael Clark, author of Paradoxes from A to Z

'Invaluable... a sound introduction.... Warburton guides the reader gently and accessibly through some of the most influential theories of the twentieth century... He deftly applies the standard tools of philosophy, such as counter-examples and the detection of circular reasoning, to a field that is prone to vagueness, pretentiousness and sometimes elastic notions of meaning and language.... an excellent introduction to the philosophy of art.' - Think

More in Philosophy & Aesthetics

The Birth of Tragedy : Penguin Classics - Friedrich Nietzsche

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
American Medium : A New Film Philosophy - Eyal Peretz

RRP $64.99

$64.75

Quotidian Beckett : Art of Everyday Life - Patrick Bixby

RRP $36.95

$35.75

Quotidian Beckett : Art of Everyday Life - Patrick Bixby

RRP $110.95

$96.99

13%
OFF
The Beauty of Everyday Things : Penguin Modern Classics - Soetsu Yanagi
The Symposium : Penguin Classics - Plato

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Bluets - Maggie Nelson

Hardcover

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Sacred Geometry : Philosophy and Practice - Robert Lawlor

RRP $21.99

$19.75

10%
OFF
Distinction : A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste - Pierre Bourdieu
Either/Or : A Fragment of Life - Soren Kierkegaard

RRP $27.99

$21.99

21%
OFF
The Joyous Science : Penguin Classics - Friedrich Nietzsche

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Chromorama : How Colour Changed Our Way of Seeing - Riccardo Falcinelli

RRP $32.99

$26.99

18%
OFF
Poetics : Penguin Classics - Aristotle

RRP $26.99

$20.75

23%
OFF
Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice - J. F. Martel

RRP $45.00

$43.99

The Performer : Art, Life, Politics - Richard Sennett

RRP $26.99

$21.75

19%
OFF
Color Charts : A History - Anne Varichon

RRP $89.99

$68.75

24%
OFF
The Practice - Seth Godin

Paperback

RRP $32.99

$26.99

18%
OFF
Bring No Clothes : Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion - Charlie Porter