The Ugliness of Moses Mendelssohn: Aesthetics, Religion & Morality in the Eighteenth Century

ISBN-13: 9781138379282 / Angielski / Miękka / 2018 / 192 str.

Leah Hochman

Opis

The Ugliness of Moses Mendelssohn examines the idea of ugliness through four angles: philosophical aesthetics, early anthropology, physiognomy and portraiture in the eighteenth-century. Highlighting a theory that describes the benefit of encountering ugly objects in art and nature, eighteenth-century German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn recasts ugliness as a positive force for moral education and social progress. According to his theory, ugly objects cause us to think more and thus exercise—and expand—our mental abilities. Known as ugly himself, he was nevertheless portrayed in portraits and in physiognomy as an image of wisdom, gentility, and tolerance. That seeming contradiction—an ugly object (Mendelssohn) made beautiful—illustrates his theory’s possibility: ugliness itself is a positive, even redeeming characteristic of great opportunity. Presenting a novel approach to eighteenth century aesthetics, this book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of Jewish Studies, Philosophy and History.

Spis treści

Introduction: The Eyes of the Beholders 1 Moral Aesthetics: What is the Ugly? 2 Comeliness, Glamour, Ugliness: Physical Distinctions and Moral Implications 3 Reading Faces, Reading Souls: Johann Caspar Lavater’s New Physiognomy 4 The Ugly Made Beautiful: The Meaning and Appearance of Mendelssohn Conclusion

O autorze

Leah Hochman is Associate Professor of Jewish Thought at HUC-JIR, USA, and directs the Louchheim School for Judaic Studies. She holds a Ph.D. from Boston University and teaches classes in Jewish philosophy, Jewish literature, American Judaism, and religion and food.