In this innovative open access study of modern aesthetics and political philosophy, Jörg Schaub demonstrates why democratic societies must pay attention to the aesthetic capacities of its citizens in order to promote freedom.

By engaging with seminal aesthetic contributions from the first half of the 18th century, Schaub offers a fresh interpretation of the modern period. His original account of Hegel's post-ideal conception of aesthetics and art shows how the aesthetic is in play whenever individuals explore the world. We see it in their senses, their emotional responses to the world, and when they are able to re-imagine it.

Schaub's expanded notion of the aesthetic and the modern period allows him to develops the concept of aesthetic recognition. This frames the capacities of perception, emotions, and imagination as valuable dimensions of our personhood. Applying his theory across a wide array of engaging case studies he makes the compelling argument that democratic societies should always take aesthetic subjecthood into account.

This is a significant intervention in the long-standing topic of the relation between the aesthetic and politics. Connecting aesthetics, democracy, freedom and critical theory, it has crucial implications for how we think about the aesthetic dimensions of politics in society.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the University of Essex.