Bloomsbury Taste and Experience in Eighteenth-Century British Aesthetics: The Move toward Empiricism

Taste and Experience in Eighteenth Century Aesthetics acknowledges theories of taste, beauty, the fine arts, genius, expression, the sublime and the picturesque in their own right, distinct from later theories of an exclusively aesthetic kind of experience. By drawing on a wealth of thinkers, including several marginalised philosophers, Dabney Townsend presents a novel reading of the century to challenge our understanding of art and move towards a unique way of thinking about aesthetics. Speaking of a proto-aesthetic, Townsend surveys theories of taste and beauty arising from the empiricist shift in philosophy. A proto-aesthetic was shaped by the philosophers who followed Locke and accepted that theories of taste and beauty must be products of experience alone. Francis Hutcheson, David Hume, Alexander Gerard and Thomas Reid were among the most important advocates, joined by others who re-thought traditional topics. Featuring chapters tracing its philosophical principles, issues raised by the subjectivity of the empiricist approach and the more academic proto-aesthetic formed toward the end of the century, Townsend argues that Lockean empiricism laid the foundations for what we now call aesthetics. Review The term 'aesthetics' was coined in eighteenth-century German, but without benefit of the name the discipline itself blossomed in eighteenth-century Britain. This is important, because as Dabney Townsend persuasively argues, it is a mistake to read Kant's conception of a distinct, 'disinterested' aesthetic experience back into eighteenth-century British aesthetics. The British, especially Scottish authors wrote under the influence of John Locke, and took a deeply empiricist approach to the variety of aesthetic experiences. Townsend's brilliant work builds upon a lifetime of exploration of this rich subject. He offers original readings of well-known philosophers such as Hutcheson, Hume, and Burke as well as lesser-known figures such as Kames and Priestley, and original approaches to such topics as taste, tragedy, genius, the sublime, the picturesque, and more. His attention to the different projects and conclusions of these philosophers is itself an illustration of the value of an empiricist approach to the history of philosophy. --Paul Guyer, Jonathan Nelson Professor of Humanities and Philosophy, Brown University, USADabney Townsend is one of the world’s leading figures in eighteenth-century aesthetics, and in this new book – lucid, acute, richly informed – he casts new light on texts we thought we knew. Situating eighteenth-century British authors – some major figures, some marginalized yet of major significance – into their own cultural and intellectual contexts, Townsend rethinks what we commonly take as the origins of the modern discipline of philosophical aesthetics and leads us to a new and more historically enriched way of seeing the contemporary field and its possibilities. This is a book that reveals the importance of asking the right questions of philosophical authors and that shows the importance of framing those questions with sufficient historical insight. Rich with illuminating interconnections, this absorbing volume leaves us with a better understanding and deeper comprehension of the concepts – empirical perception, judgments of taste, artistic genius, beauty, the sublime, and the picturesque – that constitute our aesthetic inheritance from eighteenth-century Britain. A major contribution. --Garry L. Hagberg, James H. Ottaway Professor of Philosophy and Aesthetics, Bard College, USADabney Townsend is an acknowledged expert on eighteenth-century British aesthetics and his latest book is the culmination of a lifetime’s study of the subject. This book is an authoritative, accessible and comprehensive examination of Townsend’s subject. --James O. Young, Professor of Philosophy, University of Victoria, Canada About the Author Dabney Townsend is retired as Executive Direc