Widely admired as one of Canada's leading philosophers, Francis Sparshott is a major figure in postwar philosophical aesthetics. In this book he presents an annotated version of the text of the four 1996 Ryle Lectures that he gave at Trent University.

Addressing the nature and prospects of aesthetics as a discipline, Sparshott discusses beauty, taste, and the place of imagination, fiction, and fine art in societies. He investigates the place of such a discipline in the broad social structures provided by universities and civilizations, and tackles many perennially interesting questions about education and the life of the mind.

Written with wit and charm, the lectures journey through a vast terrain of references, yet wear their learning lightly. Sparshott's engaging style and humane vision will, as always, attract a wide and diverse readership.

F.E. SPARSHOTT was born in England and education at King's School, Rochester, and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he obtained the B.A. degree with First Class Honours in 1950. Since 1955, he has been teaching in the Philosophy and Classics Departments at Victoria College, University of Toronto, where he is now Professor of Ethics. Professor Sparshott has been Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University (1958-59), a Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (1961-62), and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the University of Illinois, Urbana, (1966). He is author of An Enquiry into Goodness and Related Concepts, The Concept of Criticism, A Divided Voice, and A Cardboard Garage.

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