Adorno and Aesthetics

mickyates Aesthetics, Art, Critical Theory, Ideas, Mick's Photo Blog, Philosophy, Photography, Post-Modern, Realism Leave a Comment

I have been reading Theodor Adorno of late, and in particular Brian O’Connor’s excellent introduction to his work. Here are a few of the many notes that I have taken on O’Connor’s book and others. I am particularily taken with his approach to ‘mimesis’. ‘Mimesis … is not another name for the subject-object relationship. It is the pre-conceptual human desire to …

Marx and Aesthetics

mickyates Aesthetics, Art, ContextualResearch, Critical Research Journal, Critical Theory, ICWeek11, Ideas, Informing Contexts, Media Theory, Philosophy Leave a Comment

Karl Marx (1818-1883) has continued to be influential in many schools of philosophy, including aesthetics – even though he did not publish a specific treatise on the subject. Thinkers as different as Jacques Rancière, Roland Barthes,  Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Vilém Flusser were all influenced by Marx’ views. Perhaps Walter Benjamin (1936) was the most directly influenced, who in turn found resonance in …