description: For many eighteenth-century European philosophers and writers, the "beautiful soul" was a symbol of enlightened humanity, carrying with it the possibility that aesthetic beauty and moral goodness would be fused in a new, indivisible unity. In the first book in English on the subject, Robert E. Norton follows the fortunes of this cultural icon, exploring the reasons for both its initial popularity and its subsequent decline as a cultural ideal during the Enlightenment.
language: English
title: The Beautiful Soul: Aesthetic Morality in the Eighteenth Century
titlecomplete: The Beautiful Soul: Aesthetic Morality in the Eighteenth Century
ratings_count: 5
publisher: NCROL