Political Aesthetics: Addison and Shaftesbury on Taste, Morals and Society

Providing a gateway to a new history of modern aesthetics, this book challenges conventional views of how art's significance developed in society.

The 18th century is often said to have involved a radical transformation in the concept of art: from the understanding that it has a practical purpose to the modern belief that it is intrinsically valuable. By exploring the ground between these notions of art's function, Karl Axelsson reveals how scholars of culture made taste, morals and a politi...