The purpose of this book is to reveal the antique pedigree of a now commonplace term, "Inspiration," an essential creation-myth now propelling notions of "self-expression" in modern art-making. Knowledge of the ancient sources of such supposedly "modernist" fixations will make a significant contribution to historical-cultural thinking, particularly by showing in detail the facts of an unrecognized evolutionary continuity. In order to personify "Inspiration," this study initially focuses upon Michelangelo's Bacchus of 1496, so revealing now-forgotten meanings once typically to be attached in a...

This volume investigates how, through critical engagement, the philosophy of Donald Davidson in the Western analytic tradition and some thoughts and strands in Chinese philosophy can jointly contribute to the common philosophical enterprise and shows how such comparative methodology of constructive engagement is important or even indispensable in general philosophical inquiry. The anthology consists of 12 previously unpublished essays by experts in relevant areas of study, which are organized into five parts respectively on conceptual schemes and cross-cultural understanding, the principle of...

Using the ideas of the American scientist and philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, three conceptions of interpretation can be distinguished: the Iconic, the Indexical and the Intellective. This trichotomy is based on Peirce's use of his sign theory and his logic of scientific discovery. The Iconic captures what is valuable in itself for an individual interpreter as opposed to the Indexical which is available for public appreciation as an outcome beyond Interpretative activities. The Intellective extends the Iconic to include the interpretative activities of groups of interpreters employing...

The subject matter of Subjects and Objects is the limits of Abstraction in art. The notion of Abstraction, its development in art history, and the relation of art and philosophy regarding Abstraction are considered in addition to identifying and examining things that are essential to artworks. Any artwork has an identity, and comprehension of that identity depends on a perceptual object. A subject's apprehension of such an object creates an "artistic complex" of which the object, the subject, and the apprehension are constituents. The essential elements of this kind of complex are the...

In recent scholarly work, T.S. Eliot has usually been associated with cultural elitism and political conservatism, or even with proto-fascism and anti-Semitism. This book proposes a different view. During the Interbellum, Eliot and his review The Criterion were part of an international network of intellectuals that shared an open-minded Europeanness. Authors like T. Mann, Benda, Ortega y Gasset, Curtius and Hofmannsthal emphasized their common European roots and shared cultural legacy. Their 'classicism' stands in the European tradition of humanism and has remained highly relevant....

This volume investigates how, through critical engagement, the philosophy of John Searle in the Western analytic tradition and some thoughts and strands in Chinese philosophy can jointly contribute to the common philosophical enterprise and shows how such comparative methodology of constructive engagement is important or even indispensable in philosophical inquiry. The anthology includes Searle's keynote essay and 15 engaging pairs of essay-reply dialogues, each of which consists of one previously unpublished essay by some expert(s) and Searle's engaging reply, and which are organized into...

This book reopens the debate on colonial nationalisms, going beyond 'derivative', 'borrowed', political and modernist paradigms. It introduces the conceptual category of samaj to demonstrate how indigenous socio-cultural origins in Bengal interacted with late-colonial discourses to produce the notion of a nation. Samaj (a historical society and an idea-in-practice) was a site for reconfiguring antecedents and negotiating fragmentation. Drawing on indigenous sources, this study shows how caste, class, ethnicity, region and community were refracted to conceptualise wider unities. The mapping of...

What is art and what is its role in a China that is changing at a dizzying speed? These questions lie at the heart of Chinese contemporary art. Subversive Strategies paves the way for the rebirth of a Chinese aesthetics adequate to the art whose sheer energy and imaginative power is subverting the ideas through which western and Chinese critics think about art. The first collection of essays by American and Chinese philosophers and art historians, Subversive Strategies begins by showing how the art reflects current crises and is working them out through bodies gendered and...

Seventeen philosophers, scientists and artists consider questions about the intriguing idea of creativity: Is creativity essentially mysterious? Is creativity essentially inspirational or rationalistic? What role does skill play in creativity? What are the criteria of creativity? Should we assign logical priority to creative persons, creative processes, or creative products? How do forms of creativity relate to different domains of human activity? How does creativity relate to self-transformation? How does our knowledge of the circumstances of creativity effect our appreciation of its...

From the vantage point of comparative philosophy and with the goal of cross-tradition constructive engagement, this anthology explores how analytic and "Continental" approaches in philosophy, as understood broadly and presented in the Western and other traditions, can learn from each other and jointly contribute to the contemporary development of philosophy on a range of issues. The volume includes 14 essays which are organized into two parts respectively on analytic and "Continental" approaches in and beyond the Western tradition. The anthology also includes the volume editors' specific...