What good are the arts?
By: John Carey.
Publisher: Faber
Published: 2005
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 286
Subjects: Arts -- Philosophy.; Art criticism.
Description: "Do the arts make us better people? Are they a sign of civilization? Why should 'high' art be thought higher than 'low'? Are judgements about art anything more than personal opinions? What are works of art anyway - do they belong to some special, sacred category? Can the brain-scientists who are investigating the arts tell us anything useful about them?" "In the first part of his new book John Carey returns startling answers to these and related questions. In the second part he makes out a self-confessedly personal and subjective case for the superiority of literature to all other arts."--Jacket.
Notes: Bibliography: p. 261-269. - Includes index.
Table of contents: title: What is a work of art?; title: Is high art superior?; title: Can science help?; title: Do the arts make us better?; title: Can art be a religion?; title: Case for literature; title: Literature and critical intelligence; title: Creative reading: literature and indistinctness.