Books by "Robert B. Louden"

4 books found

The Theory of the Sublime from Longinus to Kant

The Theory of the Sublime from Longinus to Kant

by Robert Doran

2015 · Cambridge University Press

In this book, Robert Doran offers the first in-depth treatment of the major theories of the sublime, from the ancient Greek treatise On the Sublime (attributed to 'Longinus') and its reception in early modern literary theory to the philosophical accounts of Burke and Kant. Doran explains how and why the sublime became a key concept of modern thought and shows how the various theories of sublimity are united by a common structure - the paradoxical experience of being at once overwhelmed and exalted - and a common concern: the preservation of a notion of transcendence in the face of the secularization of modern culture. Combining intellectual history with literary theory and philosophical analysis, his book provides a new, searching and multilayered account of a concept that continues to stimulate thought about our responses to art, nature and human events.

Kant’s Humorous Writings

Kant’s Humorous Writings

by Robert R. Clewis

2020 · Bloomsbury Publishing

While Kant is commonly regarded as one of the most austere philosophers of all time, this book provides quite a different perspective of the founder of transcendental philosophy. Kant is often thought of as being boring, methodical, and humorless. Yet the thirty jokes and anecdotes collected and illustrated here for the first time reveal a man and a thinker who was deeply interested in how humor and laughter shape how we think, feel, and communicate with fellow human beings. In addition to a foreword on Kant's theory of humor by Noël Carroll as well as Clewis's informative chapters, Kant's Humorous Writings contains new translations of Kant's jokes, quips, and anecdotes. Each of the thirty excerpts is illustrated and supplemented by historical commentaries which explain their significance.

The Origins of Kant's Aesthetics

The Origins of Kant's Aesthetics

by Robert R. Clewis

2023 · Cambridge University Press

Organized around eight core themes in aesthetics today, this book uncovers the complex development of Kant's aesthetic theory. It will be useful to advanced students and scholars in fields across the humanities and studies of the arts.

This book completes Professor Shrock's full-scale history of MIT's Geology Department.