A Philosophy of Beauty

Name: A Philosophy of Beauty
Price: 44.99 AUD
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ISBN: 9780691226682

Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art

Michael B. Gill

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Paperback

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English

Princeton University Press
25 February 2026

Biography: general; Literature, Poetry & Criticism; Philosophy: aesthetics; Ethics & moral philosophy

An engaging account of how Shaftesbury revolutionized Western philosophy

At the turn of the eighteenth century, Anthony Ashley Cooper, the third Earl of Shaftesbury (16711713), developed the first comprehensive philosophy of beauty to be written in English. It revolutionized Western philosophy. In A Philosophy of Beauty, Michael Gill presents an engaging account of how Shaftesbury's thought profoundly shaped modern ideas of nature, religion, morality, and art-and why, despite its long neglect, it remains compelling today.

Before Shaftesbury's magnum opus, Charactersticks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711), it was common to see wilderness as ugly, to associate religion with fear and morality with unpleasant restriction, and to dismiss art as trivial or even corrupting. But Shaftesbury argued that nature, religion, virtue, and art can all be truly beautiful, and that cherishing and cultivating beauty is what makes life worth living. And, as Gill shows, this view had a huge impact on the development of natural religion, moral sense theory, aesthetics, and environmentalism.

Combining captivating historical details and flashes of humor, A Philosophy of Beauty not only rediscovers and illuminates a fascinating philosopher but also offers an inspiring reflection about the role beauty can play in our lives.

By: Michael B. Gill
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780691226682
ISBN 10: 0691226687
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 25 February 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Michael B. Gill is professor of philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Humean Moral Pluralism and The British Moralists on Human Nature and the Birth of Secular Ethics.

Reviews for A Philosophy of Beauty: Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art

""A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year"" ""Erudite and beautifully written. . . . Gill gives us a marvelous book that is engaging and thoughtful about what constitutes beauty and why we need it.""---Lee Trepanier, The Russell Kirk Center ""[An] informative and entertaining book, A Philosophy of Beauty: Shaftesbury on Nature, Virtue, and Art. . . . is full of fresh and timely insights into Shaftesbury’s philosophy of beauty, and, with its sensitivity to modern issues and concerns, it serves as an apologia for the intrinsic value of the beautiful life.""---Philip Trotter, Eighteenth-Century Studies