Inaugural-Dissertation--Leipzig. / Lebenslauf. "Literatur zum Gedankenkreis dieser arbeit": p. 60-61.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-79).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 39).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 431-439).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1904. / "A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Literature of the University of Chicago in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Philosophy)" Includes bibliographical references and index. Also available on the Internet.

<p> <i>Power of Wrapping</i> explores and communicates the somaesthetically inspired artistic act of wrapping as a generative force for healing. This thesis exhibition is an installation of artwork comprised of the combined forms and outcomes from two types of investigation. One, a studio practice in which my own somatic engagement, collaborates with my personal aesthetics of form, to produce two kinds of exhibited work. The first is a large traditionally wrapped Japanese temari and the second, involves twenty low-relief two dimensional wrappings on eight-inch stretcher frames and configured in a circular pattern with a larger wrapped stretcher frame in the center. Two, a social practice which embodies relationally and somaesthetically inspired art making within community groups, as generators of a large hanging form of wrapped hula hoops. In its totality, the installation is an expression of the idea that the body is essential to both making art and experiencing art.</p><p>

On the Origin of Beauty and the Human Ability to Perceive it William Earl Elkins, Jr., Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2017 Chair: Dr. Mark T. Coppenger This dissertation examines the explanatory power and scope of two different theories concerning the origin of beauty and the human aesthetic sense. Chapter 1 introduces the problem of beauty, the working thesis, and the methodological approached. Chapter 2 examines several materialistic evolutionary explanations of the origin of beauty and of human aesthetic perception. It concludes with a critique of the various theories outlined. Chapter 3 examines the possibility of a divine origin of beauty and the human aesthetic sense. Various biblical words and ideas are discussed, as well as several historical theological and philosophical concepts. Chapter 4 considers the possibility that beauty functions as a sign that points to God. The discussion includes certain philosophers and theologians that developed, in various degrees, a divine semiotic understanding of beauty. In the last section, the burgeoning field of Biosemiotics is examined and critiqued. Chapter 5 discusses the various types of beauty found in the world through sight, sound, and ideas, and how the mind recognizes these various types. The purpose of this section is to show that beauty is not just a peripheral aspect of the universe, but woven into the very fabric of reality. Chapter 6 concludes by summarizing the arguments and showing that the best explanation for the origin of beauty in the world and of the human perception of beauty is biblical creation. It also concludes that beauty is an important signature of God, as well as a gracious gift given to humanity by a glorious and loving Creator.

[No abstract available] / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

The development of interpretive criticism in the arts has raised doubts concerning the possibility for explaining the affective power of works of art within the same theoretical framework. Works of art provide pleasure; however, they also possess meritous properties that can be accurately assessed in terms of objective criteria. The object of this thesis is to investigate the institutional dimensions of artistic excellence and merit in order to outline the relation between aesthetic feeling, aesthetic value and aesthetic taste. Modern aesthetics has its origins in the 18th century British Enlightenment, specifically the works of Joseph Addison, Francis Hutcheson and David Hume. A detailed analysis of these philosophers' works on taste is undertaken in order to outline the historical foundation and original logic of aesthetic theory and the role that aesthetic taste plays within it. The main theme of this analysis is that the "middle-ground" view of aesthetic taste (between reason and the passions) developed by these philosophers is, in fact, untenable in the face of modern critical practices and theory. Two contemporary views of aesthetic taste are then assessed in order to show that even with the additional clarity provided by philosophical analysis, the middle-ground view is still flawed. The general architecture of this criticism is provided by an institutional view of art. A general appraisal of this view is undertaken with special emphasis on the role of art institutions as generators of standards and theories of critical evaluations. Lastly, two meta-critical theories are analysed to determine whether valid, non-affective theories of aesthetic evaluation are available. It is concluded that this approach to art is a valid development, in one direction, from the notion of taste developed in the 18th century, and that this approach is logically independent of that which seeks to explain the psychological dimensions of aesthetic perception. / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

N/A / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)