Aesthetics and Postmodernism

Abstract

This article focuses on the philosophical issues, themes, and theories of postmodernism and how they impact on the field of aesthetics. But it begins with a brief historical overview of how postmodernism evolved in the past half-century from a specific artistic style concept to a notion of very general social and cultural significance. It then explores the nasty tangle of ambiguities and tensions in the concept of postmodernism and goes on to survey its major philosophical theories. It concludes by considering what consequences postmodernism should have for aesthetic theory and what a postmodern aesthetic would be like.