Surface And Depth

A paradox of surface and depth pervades the field of aesthetics. How can art's surface meanings and qualities be properly appreciated without understanding the cultural context that shapes their creation and perception? But exploring such underlying cultural conditions challenges the perception of thosequalities and meanings of aesthetic surface that constitute the captivating power of art. If aesthetics deals with both surface and depth, impassioned immediacy yet also critical distance of judgment, how can this doubleness be held together in one philosophical vision?In his new book, Richard Shusterman explores the dialectics of surface and depth by examining key issues in the philosophy of art and culture—from the logic of interpretation and evaluation to the roots of taste and convention, from the meanings of aesthetic purity and immediacy to the role of nature, theory, and history in our experience and understanding of art. In treating these topics, Shusterman combines the methods of analytic philosophy, critical theory, and poststructualism to arrive at new positions, displaying the philosophical versatility, originality of vision, and graceful, accessible writing that have become his trademark. Surface and Depth is crowned by a new definition of art as dramatization.

A paradox of surface and depth pervades the field of aesthetics. How can art's surface meanings and qualities be properly appreciated without understanding the cultural context that shapes their creation and perception? But exploring such underlying cultural conditions challenges the perception of thosequalities and meanings of aesthetic surface that constitute the captivating power of art. If aesthetics deals with both surface and depth, impassioned immediacy yet also critical distance of judgment, how can this doubleness be held together in one philosophical vision?In his new book, Richard Shusterman explores the dialectics of surface and depth by examining key issues in the philosophy of art and culture--from the logic of interpretation and evaluation to the roots of taste and convention, from the meanings of aesthetic purity and immediacy to the role of nature, theory, and history in our experience and understanding of art. In treating these topics, Shusterman combines the methods of analytic philosophy, critical theory, and poststructualism to arrive at new positions, displaying the philosophical versatility, originality of vision, and graceful, accessible writing that have become his trademark. Surface and Depth is crowned by a new definition of art as dramatization.

Many books are available that detail the basic principles of the different methods of surface characterization. On the other hand, the scientific literature provides a resource of how individual pieces of research are conducted by particular labo- tories. Between these two extremes the literature is thin but it is here that the present volume comfortably sits. Both the newcomer and the more mature scientist will find in these chapters a wealth of detail as well as advice and general guidance of the principal phenomena relevant to the study of real samples. In the analysis of samples, practical analysts have fairly simple models of how everything works. Superimposed on this ideal world is an understanding of how the parameters of the measurement method, the instrumentation, and the char- teristics of the sample distort this ideal world into something less precise, less controlled, and less understood. The guidance given in these chapters allows the scientist to understand how to obtain the most precise and understood measu- ments that are currently possible and, where there are inevitable problems, to have clear guidance as the extent of the problem and its likely behavior.

Many books are available that detail the basic principles of the different methods of surface characterization. On the other hand, the scientific literature provides a resource of how individual pieces of research are conducted by particular labo- tories. Between these two extremes the literature is thin but it is here that the present volume comfortably sits. Both the newcomer and the more mature scientist will find in these chapters a wealth of detail as well as advice and general guidance of the principal phenomena relevant to the study of real samples. In the analysis of samples, practical analysts have fairly simple models of how everything works. Superimposed on this ideal world is an understanding of how the parameters of the measurement method, the instrumentation, and the char- teristics of the sample distort this ideal world into something less precise, less controlled, and less understood. The guidance given in these chapters allows the scientist to understand how to obtain the most precise and understood measu- ments that are currently possible and, where there are inevitable problems, to have clear guidance as the extent of the problem and its likely behavior.

The idea of a common American culture is in retreat; arguments emphasizing difference have discredited the grand synthetic studies that marginalized groups and perspectives at odds with the master narrative. This work is an attempt to revitalize an interpretive overview.

Learn the critical strategies you can use for reading, analyzing, and writing about literary texts as Digging into Literature teaches you that as complex as some literature is, writing effective essays about that literature isn't.

The preoccupation with “depth” and its relevance to cinema and media studies For decades the concept of depth has been central to critical thinking in numerous humanities-based disciplines, legitimizing certain modes of inquiry over others. Deep Mediations examines why and how this is, as scholars today navigate the legacy of depth models of thought and vision, particularly in light of the “surface turn” and as these models impinge on the realms of cinema and media studies. The collection’s eighteen essays seek to understand the decisive but evolving fixation on depth by considering the term’s use across a range of conversations as well as its status in relation to critical methodologies and the current mediascape. Engaging contemporary debates about new computing technologies, the environment, history, identity, affect, audio/visual culture, and the limits and politics of human perception, Deep Mediations is a timely interrogation of depth’s ongoing importance within the humanities. Contributors: Laurel Ahnert; Taylor Arnold, U of Richmond; Erika Balsom, King’s College London; Brooke Belisle, Stony Brook University; Jinhee Choi, King’s College London; Jennifer Fay, Vanderbilt U; Lisa Han, UC Santa Barbara; Jean Ma, Stanford U; Shaka McGlotten, Purchase College-SUNY; Susanna Paasonen, U of Turku, Finland; Jussi Parikka, U of Southampton; Alessandra Raengo, Georgia State U; Pooja Rangan, Amherst College; Katherine Rochester, VIA Art Fund in Boston; Karl Schoonover, University of Warwick (UK); Jordan Schonig, Michigan State U; John Paul Stadler, North Carolina State U; Nicole Starosielski, New York U; Lauren Tilton, U of Richmond.