The Modern Ideal

The Modern Ideal

Author: Paul Greenhalgh

Publisher: Victoria & Albert Museum

Published: 2005-10

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13:

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Over the last three centuries the world has been modernized. From the first stirrings of industrialism to the definitive arrival of globalization, artists, craftspeople and designers have engaged with modernization in order to make sense of the transformations it continually imposes. They have been, by turns, brutally critical and profoundly idealistic about the ongoing state of things. The Modern Ideal explores the idea of modernity, returning it to its historical context and showing how theory and practice in the modern visual arts emerged over three centuries. Concepts which are central to the meaning of modernity are explained, including style, modernization, progress, ideology and universality, and movements across all disciplines are discussed, from neoclassicism to postmodernism. The rise of idealism in the modern visual arts is also explored- the attempt to create a definitive, positive style that was capable of transforming not only art but society as a whole, became the obsessive quest of succeeding generations of artists, architects and designers. By dealing with issues at large in the contemporary art and design scene, and by speculating about the next phase of modern practice, the book identifies the collapse of idealism in the modern arts as being of central concern today.


Book Synopsis The Modern Ideal by : Paul Greenhalgh

Download or read book The Modern Ideal written by Paul Greenhalgh and published by Victoria & Albert Museum. This book was released on 2005-10 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last three centuries the world has been modernized. From the first stirrings of industrialism to the definitive arrival of globalization, artists, craftspeople and designers have engaged with modernization in order to make sense of the transformations it continually imposes. They have been, by turns, brutally critical and profoundly idealistic about the ongoing state of things. The Modern Ideal explores the idea of modernity, returning it to its historical context and showing how theory and practice in the modern visual arts emerged over three centuries. Concepts which are central to the meaning of modernity are explained, including style, modernization, progress, ideology and universality, and movements across all disciplines are discussed, from neoclassicism to postmodernism. The rise of idealism in the modern visual arts is also explored- the attempt to create a definitive, positive style that was capable of transforming not only art but society as a whole, became the obsessive quest of succeeding generations of artists, architects and designers. By dealing with issues at large in the contemporary art and design scene, and by speculating about the next phase of modern practice, the book identifies the collapse of idealism in the modern arts as being of central concern today.


My Ideal Bookshelf

My Ideal Bookshelf

Author: Thessaly La Force

Publisher: Little, Brown

Published: 2012-11-13

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0316225002

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The books that we choose to keep -- let alone read -- can say a lot about who we are and how we see ourselves. In My Ideal Bookshelf, dozens of leading cultural figures share the books that matter to them most; books that define their dreams and ambitions and in many cases helped them find their way in the world. Contributors include Malcolm Gladwell, Thomas Keller, Michael Chabon, Alice Waters, James Patterson, Maira Kalman, Judd Apatow, Chuck Klosterman, Miranda July, Alex Ross, Nancy Pearl, David Chang, Patti Smith, Jennifer Egan, and Dave Eggers, among many others. With colorful and endearingly hand-rendered images of book spines by Jane Mount, and first-person commentary from all the contributors, this is a perfect gift for avid readers, writers, and all who have known the influence of a great book.


Book Synopsis My Ideal Bookshelf by : Thessaly La Force

Download or read book My Ideal Bookshelf written by Thessaly La Force and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2012-11-13 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The books that we choose to keep -- let alone read -- can say a lot about who we are and how we see ourselves. In My Ideal Bookshelf, dozens of leading cultural figures share the books that matter to them most; books that define their dreams and ambitions and in many cases helped them find their way in the world. Contributors include Malcolm Gladwell, Thomas Keller, Michael Chabon, Alice Waters, James Patterson, Maira Kalman, Judd Apatow, Chuck Klosterman, Miranda July, Alex Ross, Nancy Pearl, David Chang, Patti Smith, Jennifer Egan, and Dave Eggers, among many others. With colorful and endearingly hand-rendered images of book spines by Jane Mount, and first-person commentary from all the contributors, this is a perfect gift for avid readers, writers, and all who have known the influence of a great book.


The Ideal Book

The Ideal Book

Author: William Morris

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2023-12-22

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0520345223

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This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.


Book Synopsis The Ideal Book by : William Morris

Download or read book The Ideal Book written by William Morris and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-12-22 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.


How Should a Person Be?

How Should a Person Be?

Author: Sheila Heti

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Published: 2012-06-19

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1429943483

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Chosen as one of fifteen remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write in the 21st century by the book critics of The New York Times "Funny...odd, original, and nearly unclassifiable...unlike any novel I can think of."—David Haglund, The New York Times Book Review "Brutally honest and stylistically inventive, cerebral, and sexy."—San Francisco Chronicle Named a Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Flavorpill, The New Republic, The New York Observer, The Huffington Post A raw, startling, genre-defying novel of friendship, sex, and love in the new millennium—a compulsive read that's like "spending a day with your new best friend" (Bookforum) Reeling from a failed marriage, Sheila, a twentysomething playwright, finds herself unsure of how to live and create. When Margaux, a talented painter and free spirit, and Israel, a sexy and depraved artist, enter her life, Sheila hopes that through close—sometimes too close—observation of her new friend, her new lover, and herself, she might regain her footing in art and life. Using transcribed conversations, real emails, plus heavy doses of fiction, the brilliant and always innovative Sheila Heti crafts a work that is part literary novel, part self-help manual, and part bawdy confessional. It's a totally shameless and dynamic exploration into the way we live now, which breathes fresh wisdom into the eternal questions: What is the sincerest way to love? What kind of person should you be?


Book Synopsis How Should a Person Be? by : Sheila Heti

Download or read book How Should a Person Be? written by Sheila Heti and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2012-06-19 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chosen as one of fifteen remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write in the 21st century by the book critics of The New York Times "Funny...odd, original, and nearly unclassifiable...unlike any novel I can think of."—David Haglund, The New York Times Book Review "Brutally honest and stylistically inventive, cerebral, and sexy."—San Francisco Chronicle Named a Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Flavorpill, The New Republic, The New York Observer, The Huffington Post A raw, startling, genre-defying novel of friendship, sex, and love in the new millennium—a compulsive read that's like "spending a day with your new best friend" (Bookforum) Reeling from a failed marriage, Sheila, a twentysomething playwright, finds herself unsure of how to live and create. When Margaux, a talented painter and free spirit, and Israel, a sexy and depraved artist, enter her life, Sheila hopes that through close—sometimes too close—observation of her new friend, her new lover, and herself, she might regain her footing in art and life. Using transcribed conversations, real emails, plus heavy doses of fiction, the brilliant and always innovative Sheila Heti crafts a work that is part literary novel, part self-help manual, and part bawdy confessional. It's a totally shameless and dynamic exploration into the way we live now, which breathes fresh wisdom into the eternal questions: What is the sincerest way to love? What kind of person should you be?


The Bauhaus Ideal Then and Now

The Bauhaus Ideal Then and Now

Author: William Smock

Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Published: 2009-06-01

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0897335902

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The Bauhaus Ideal is both a picture book and a guidebook to the fascinating and enduring legacy of modernist design, and to the continuing influence of Bauhaus on interior design—not just on architecture, but also on furniture, glassware, tableware, and kitchen utensils: the whole range of domestic arts. This unique volume introduces modern design principles and examines them from an historically critical perspective. It concludes with some ideas for melding modern solemnity with postmodern irony. And in each phase the illustrations speak as eloquently as the text—the whole serves as a beautifully illustrated design memo.


Book Synopsis The Bauhaus Ideal Then and Now by : William Smock

Download or read book The Bauhaus Ideal Then and Now written by William Smock and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2009-06-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bauhaus Ideal is both a picture book and a guidebook to the fascinating and enduring legacy of modernist design, and to the continuing influence of Bauhaus on interior design—not just on architecture, but also on furniture, glassware, tableware, and kitchen utensils: the whole range of domestic arts. This unique volume introduces modern design principles and examines them from an historically critical perspective. It concludes with some ideas for melding modern solemnity with postmodern irony. And in each phase the illustrations speak as eloquently as the text—the whole serves as a beautifully illustrated design memo.


Women and the Ideal Society

Women and the Ideal Society

Author: Natalie Harris Bluestone

Publisher:

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13:

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In Book V of Plato's Republic, Socrates proposed that in an ideal society the most capable men and women must rule together equally. But as Natalie Harris Bluestone demonstrates in this cogent study, for generations the most influential classicists, historians of philosophy, and political theorists have ignored or rejected the idea of Philosopher Queens--of women serving as equal partners in the guiding of a just society. She also argues that in recent years many feminist writers, while correcting previous misconceptions, have allowed their sexual politics to distort their discussion of Plato's text. In confronting both male and female biases, Bluestone addresses some of the most debated issues of our time. She questions whether women have special qualities that make them naturally better or worse equipped for leadership than men, arguing convincingly against sociobiological views of gender differences. In defending the predominance of reason as the arbiter of excellence and the key to justice, she offers a spirited critique of current feminist theory. Her writing is personal, sometimes humorous, and yet rigorously analytic, as she reveals the difficulties inherent in philosophical discussions involving gender, the prevalence in the academy of discrimination against women, and the continuing importance of the issues Plato raised in the Republic.


Book Synopsis Women and the Ideal Society by : Natalie Harris Bluestone

Download or read book Women and the Ideal Society written by Natalie Harris Bluestone and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Book V of Plato's Republic, Socrates proposed that in an ideal society the most capable men and women must rule together equally. But as Natalie Harris Bluestone demonstrates in this cogent study, for generations the most influential classicists, historians of philosophy, and political theorists have ignored or rejected the idea of Philosopher Queens--of women serving as equal partners in the guiding of a just society. She also argues that in recent years many feminist writers, while correcting previous misconceptions, have allowed their sexual politics to distort their discussion of Plato's text. In confronting both male and female biases, Bluestone addresses some of the most debated issues of our time. She questions whether women have special qualities that make them naturally better or worse equipped for leadership than men, arguing convincingly against sociobiological views of gender differences. In defending the predominance of reason as the arbiter of excellence and the key to justice, she offers a spirited critique of current feminist theory. Her writing is personal, sometimes humorous, and yet rigorously analytic, as she reveals the difficulties inherent in philosophical discussions involving gender, the prevalence in the academy of discrimination against women, and the continuing importance of the issues Plato raised in the Republic.


What Are We Doing Here?

What Are We Doing Here?

Author: Marilynne Robinson

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2018-02-20

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0374717788

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New essays on theological, political, and contemporary themes, by the Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America like Emerson and Tocqueville inform our political consciousness or discussing the way that beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson’s peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display. What Are We Doing Here? is a call for Americans to continue the tradition of those great thinkers and to remake American political and cultural life as “deeply impressed by obligation [and as] a great theater of heroic generosity, which, despite all, is sometimes palpable still.”


Book Synopsis What Are We Doing Here? by : Marilynne Robinson

Download or read book What Are We Doing Here? written by Marilynne Robinson and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2018-02-20 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New essays on theological, political, and contemporary themes, by the Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America like Emerson and Tocqueville inform our political consciousness or discussing the way that beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson’s peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display. What Are We Doing Here? is a call for Americans to continue the tradition of those great thinkers and to remake American political and cultural life as “deeply impressed by obligation [and as] a great theater of heroic generosity, which, despite all, is sometimes palpable still.”


Perfect Me

Perfect Me

Author: Heather Widdows

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-02-25

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0691197148

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How looking beautiful has become a moral imperative in today's worldThe demand to be beautiful is increasingly important in today's visual and virtual culture. Rightly or wrongly, being perfect has become an ethical ideal to live by, and according to which we judge ourselves good or bad, a success or a failure. Perfect Me explores the changing nature of the beauty ideal, showing how it is more dominant, more demanding, and more global than ever before.Heather Widdows argues that our perception of the self is changing. More and more, we locate the self in the body--not just our actual, flawed bodies but our transforming and imagined ones. As this happens, we further embrace the beauty ideal. Nobody is firm enough, thin enough, smooth enough, or buff enough-not without significant effort and cosmetic intervention. And as more demanding practices become the norm, more will be required of us, and the beauty ideal will be harder and harder to resist.If you have ever felt the urge to "make the best of yourself" or worried that you were "letting yourself go," this book explains why. Perfect Me examines how the beauty ideal has come to define how we see ourselves and others and how we structure our daily practices-and how it enthralls us with promises of the good life that are dubious at best. Perfect Me demonstrates that we must first recognize the ethical nature of the beauty ideal if we are ever to address its harms.


Book Synopsis Perfect Me by : Heather Widdows

Download or read book Perfect Me written by Heather Widdows and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-02-25 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How looking beautiful has become a moral imperative in today's worldThe demand to be beautiful is increasingly important in today's visual and virtual culture. Rightly or wrongly, being perfect has become an ethical ideal to live by, and according to which we judge ourselves good or bad, a success or a failure. Perfect Me explores the changing nature of the beauty ideal, showing how it is more dominant, more demanding, and more global than ever before.Heather Widdows argues that our perception of the self is changing. More and more, we locate the self in the body--not just our actual, flawed bodies but our transforming and imagined ones. As this happens, we further embrace the beauty ideal. Nobody is firm enough, thin enough, smooth enough, or buff enough-not without significant effort and cosmetic intervention. And as more demanding practices become the norm, more will be required of us, and the beauty ideal will be harder and harder to resist.If you have ever felt the urge to "make the best of yourself" or worried that you were "letting yourself go," this book explains why. Perfect Me examines how the beauty ideal has come to define how we see ourselves and others and how we structure our daily practices-and how it enthralls us with promises of the good life that are dubious at best. Perfect Me demonstrates that we must first recognize the ethical nature of the beauty ideal if we are ever to address its harms.


Conduct Books and the History of the Ideal Woman

Conduct Books and the History of the Ideal Woman

Author: Tabitha Kenlon

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2020-03-31

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 1785273159

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The longest-running war is the battle over how women should behave. “Conduct Books and the History of the Ideal Woman” examines six centuries of advice literature, analyzing the print origins of gendered expectations that continue to inform our thinking about women’s roles and abilities. Close readings of numerous conduct manuals from Britain and America, written by men and women, explain and contextualize the legacy of sexism as represented in prescriptive writing for women from 1372 to the present. While existing period-specific studies of conduct manuals consider advice literature within the society that wrote and read them, “Conduct Books and the History of the Ideal Woman” provides the only analysis of both the volumes themselves and the larger debates taking place within their pages across the centuries. Combining textual literary analysis with a social history sensibility while remaining accessible to expert and novice, this book will help readers understand the on-going debate about the often-contradictory guidelines for female behavior.


Book Synopsis Conduct Books and the History of the Ideal Woman by : Tabitha Kenlon

Download or read book Conduct Books and the History of the Ideal Woman written by Tabitha Kenlon and published by Anthem Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The longest-running war is the battle over how women should behave. “Conduct Books and the History of the Ideal Woman” examines six centuries of advice literature, analyzing the print origins of gendered expectations that continue to inform our thinking about women’s roles and abilities. Close readings of numerous conduct manuals from Britain and America, written by men and women, explain and contextualize the legacy of sexism as represented in prescriptive writing for women from 1372 to the present. While existing period-specific studies of conduct manuals consider advice literature within the society that wrote and read them, “Conduct Books and the History of the Ideal Woman” provides the only analysis of both the volumes themselves and the larger debates taking place within their pages across the centuries. Combining textual literary analysis with a social history sensibility while remaining accessible to expert and novice, this book will help readers understand the on-going debate about the often-contradictory guidelines for female behavior.


The Pursuit of the Ideal

The Pursuit of the Ideal

Author: Menachem Kellner

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2012-02-01

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 1438408684

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Steven Schwarzschild—rabbi, socialist, pacifist, theologian, and philosopher—is both the last of the major medieval Jewish philosophers and the most modern. He is in the tradition of the Jewish thinking that began with Sa'adia Gaon and reached its highest expression in Maimonides. These thinkers believed that Judaism must confront some systematic view of the universe. Sa'adia did this with Kalam, ibn Gabirol with Neo-Platonism, and Maimonides with Aristotelianism. Schwarzschild does it with Neo-Kantianism. From this confrontation, Schwarzschild derives important insights into the nature and structure of contemporary Judaism and Jewish existence in the post-modern world. Menachem Kellner brings together thirteen of Schwarzschild's Jewish (as opposed to straightforwardly philosophical) writings. Included are important discussions of messianism, death of God theology, ethics, aesthetics, and politics. The common concerns underlying these essays are Neo-Kantian idealism and messianism. In an afterword written especially for this book, Schwarzschild shows that these two foci are really one. In an introductory essay, Menachem Kellner explores the philosophic underpinning of Schwarzschild's non-Marxist socialism, pacifism, and messianism; and of his critiques of Christianity, political conservatism, and Zionism.


Book Synopsis The Pursuit of the Ideal by : Menachem Kellner

Download or read book The Pursuit of the Ideal written by Menachem Kellner and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steven Schwarzschild—rabbi, socialist, pacifist, theologian, and philosopher—is both the last of the major medieval Jewish philosophers and the most modern. He is in the tradition of the Jewish thinking that began with Sa'adia Gaon and reached its highest expression in Maimonides. These thinkers believed that Judaism must confront some systematic view of the universe. Sa'adia did this with Kalam, ibn Gabirol with Neo-Platonism, and Maimonides with Aristotelianism. Schwarzschild does it with Neo-Kantianism. From this confrontation, Schwarzschild derives important insights into the nature and structure of contemporary Judaism and Jewish existence in the post-modern world. Menachem Kellner brings together thirteen of Schwarzschild's Jewish (as opposed to straightforwardly philosophical) writings. Included are important discussions of messianism, death of God theology, ethics, aesthetics, and politics. The common concerns underlying these essays are Neo-Kantian idealism and messianism. In an afterword written especially for this book, Schwarzschild shows that these two foci are really one. In an introductory essay, Menachem Kellner explores the philosophic underpinning of Schwarzschild's non-Marxist socialism, pacifism, and messianism; and of his critiques of Christianity, political conservatism, and Zionism.