Questions about the nature of beauty and the relation betweenmorality and art were among the earliest discussed by ancientphilosophers. And today, a host of new issues has been prompted byrecent developments in the arts and in philosophy, testifying to agreat revival of interest in aesthetics and literary criticism. Thenature of representation, the relation between art and truth, andthe criteria for interpretation are among the most debated problemsin contemporary philosophy.

This reference series, centred on analytic philosophy but alsocovering important aspects of the continental tradition and ofnon-Western philosophies, is made up of a number of volumes eachdealing with a particular subject area. Taken together the seriesoffers a comprehensive survey of philosophy as a whole. The entriesin each volume combine summarized information on names, terms andmoverments and each essay is also supported by a selectivebibliography.

Alphabetically arranged, the 130 articles in this volume providecomprehensive coverage of the main topics and writers in this areaof aesthetics. The Companion will serve students ofphilosophy, literary criticism and cultural studies - as well asthe general reader - both as a work of reference and, with its manysubstantial essays, as a guide to the best thinking about the artsin the late twentieth century.