美学は決して芸術作品の優劣を決める「ものさし」ではありません。部屋に差し込む夕日に感動したとして、これを研究の対象にするのが美学です。「美的感受性の社会的側面」や「美的価値観の重要性」のような従来の問いを新機軸で捉えなおすには学問を拓くことが重要です。西洋の文脈に留まらず、広い視野で美学の伝統を概説する本書は、なぜ芸術家や音楽家、時には哲学者にさえ、美学が浮世離れしたものと誤解されるのかも考えます。
　　

• Introduces aesthetics, a branch of philosophy that explores the nature of art, beauty, and taste
• Looks beyond traditional artistic experiences to show how more everyday experiences such as the pleasure in a soft fabric or falling leaves can become the subject of aesthetics
• Defends the field of aesthetics from accusations of elitism
• Considers questions about the social aspect of our aesthetic engagements and the importance of aesthetic values for our own self
• Incorporates global aesthetic traditions in its discussion

             
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that explores the nature of art, beauty, and taste. It doesn't just consider traditional artistic experiences such as artworks in a museum or an opera performance, but also everyday experiences such as autumn leaves in the park, or even just the light of the setting sun falling on the kitchen table. It is also about your experience when you choose the shirt you're going to wear today or when you wonder whether you should put more pepper in the soup. Aesthetics is everywhere. It is one of the most important aspects of our life. 
      
In this Very Short Introduction Bence Nanay introduces the field of aesthetics, considering both Western and non-Western aesthetic traditions, and exploring why it is sometimes misunderstood or considered to be too elitist - by artists, musicians, and even philosophers. As Nanay shows, so-called 'high art' has no more claims on aesthetics than sitcoms, tattoos, or punk rock. In fact, the scope of aesthetics extends far wider than that of art, high or low, including much of what we care about in life. It is not the job of aesthetics to tell you which artworks are good and which ones are bad. It is not the job of aesthetics to tell you what experiences are worth having. If an experience is worth having for you, it thereby becomes the subject of aesthetics. This realisation is important, because thinking about aesthetics in this inclusive way opens up new ways of understanding old questions about the social aspect of our aesthetic engagements, and the importance of aesthetic values for our own self.