Ethics in Aesthetics

In 1790, Immanuel Kant elevated “the beautiful to a symbol of the morally good.” Two hundred years later, “more ethics, less aesthetics” was the tagline chosen for the 2000 Venice Biennial for architecture. This volume tackles this ever-present struggle between ethics and aesthetics, querying whether “more aesthetics” might in fact be just what is required to stimulate reflection on the ethical dimensions of architecture, art and design. Ethics in Aesthetics? gathers controversial reflections about the ethical and political dimensions of aesthetic, curatorial and philosophical practice. The contributions--by authors Stephan Bohle, Christian Demand, Raphie Etgar, Renate Flagmeier, Johan Holten, Leiko Ikemura, Derrick de Kerckhove, Césare Peeren, Michaela Ott, Rainer Leschke and Annett Zinsmeister--range across disciplines and styles, from historical reviews to speculative writing.