The latest forms of contemporary art, often provocative and sometimes misunderstood by the general public, have unquestionably sparked renewed interest in aesthetics. However, the field of aesthetics has forged its own terminology during its relatively recent history, as it has intermingled, from the early 19^th century on, with the ebb and flow of modernistic and avant-garde artistic movements. The concepts that it uses and its philosophically-inspired discourse may sometimes seem unfamiliar to the uninitiated. The debate over current art forms may often seem confusing and of relevance only to initiates ; actually, it was simply influenced by the issues that have arisen during this century.
In this book, the author presents these issues by clearly and precisely defining the main questions that contemporary aesthetics is striving to resolve.

Philosopher and Germanist Marc Jimenez is an instructor at Université de Paris 1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne). He teaches Aesthetics at UFR d'Arts plastiques et Sciences de l'art where he is the Head of the Centre de Recherches en Esthétique théorique et appliquée.