Aesthetics on the edge : where philosophy meets the human sciences / Dominic McIver Lopes.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. Methods -- Aesthetics in three dimensions -- Feckless reason -- Shikinen sengu: the ontology of architecture in Japan -- Aesthetic theory and aesthetic science: prospects for integration / with Vincent Bergeron -- Part II. Modes -- Art media and the sense modalities: tactile pictures -- Vision, touch, and the value of pictures -- Hearing and seeing musical expression / with Vincent Bergeron -- In the eye of the beholder -- Part III. Means -- Directive pictures -- Drawing in a social science: lithic illustration -- An empathic eye.

This book proposes a new methodology for aesthetics, where problems in philosophy are addressed by examining how aesthetic phenomena are understood in the human sciences. Lopes then puts the methodology to work, illuminating the perceptual and social-pragmatic capacities involved in responding to works of visual art, literature, and music.