In today's art world many strange, even shocking, things qualify as art. In this book, Cynthia Freeland explains why innovation and controversy are valued in the arts, weaving together philosophy and art theory with many fascinating examples.

She discusses blood, beauty, culture, money, museums, sex, and politics, clarifying contemporary and historical accounts of the nature, function, and interpretation of the arts. Freeland also propels us into the future by surveying cutting-edge web sites, along with the latest research on the brain's role in perceiving art.

This clear, provocative book engages with the big debates surrounding our responses to art and is an invaluable introduction to anyone interested in thinking about art.

Features:
- More responsive to the actual world of art today than are most books on aesthetics.
- Up-to-date and future-oriented: devotes a chapter to art on the web, video art, art museum CD-ROMs and various theorists of the new media and of postmodern art
- Packed with real-world art examples
- Discusses topical artists like Andres Serrano and Damien Hirst as well as more historical examples like Goya and Velazquez
- Includes discussion of some recent research by neuroscientists on how the brain is involved in our perceptions of art
- Illustrated with a wide range of salient images - important because many aesthetics books by philosophers actually have few or even no images
- The style is clear, lively, and humorous