This volume offers a historical and thematic account of the idea of contemporary and modern aesthetics considered as philosophy of art, from its origins in 17th century thought - especially in Kantian criticism - up to more recent developments. If considered as philosophy of art, aesthetics is able to re-define issues such as the determination of the aesthetic object, the extra-artistic definition of beauty, the relationship between perception and artistic representation, and, in general terms, the meaning of aesthetic experience. Moreover, it can establish a fruitful and renewed dialogue with human and natural sciences. In order to offer the reader a more immediate contact with the discipline, the volume includes a wide selection of texts written by cited authors and lexicographic definitions.

Contents: Preface - Part One: Aesthetics and System - 1. Kant and the Founding of Modern Aesthetics - 2. Romantic Aesthetics - 3. The Aesthetics of German Idealism - 4. The System of the Arts - Part Two: The Decline of Systemic Aesthetics - 5. Aesthetics and the Crisis of Rationalism - 6. Aesthetics in the Age of Positivism and the Beginnings of Psychoanalytical Aesthetics - 7. The Aesthetics of Italian Neo-Idealism - 8. Modernity, the Advent of Poetics, and the Historical Avant-garde - Part Three: Art, Life, Society - 9. The 20th Century Turn: Art, Life, Culture - 10. The Aesthetics of Neo-Marxism and the Critical Theory of Society - 11. Aesthetics and Human Sciences - 12. Technical Reproducibility, the Cultural Industry, Museums, and the Environment - Part Four: Aesthetic Experience and Ontology - 13. Phenomenological Aesthetics - 14. Aesthetics, Ontology, and Hermeneutics - 15. Anglo-American Aesthetics - 16. The Problem of Evaluating Beauty and the Future of Aesthetics - Bibliographical Tools - Indexes

Federico Vercellone teaches Aesthetics at the University of Udine.

Alessandro Bertinetto has performed post-doctorate activities at the University of Padua.

Gianluca Garelli holds a doctorate degree in Aesthetics and is a research fellow at the University of Turin.