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How Art Transforms Us

A Philosophical Inquiry

How Art Transforms Us cover

How Art Transforms Us

A Philosophical Inquiry

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Description

Does art get us to upend our lives by making beauty feel like truth?

How Art Transforms Us uncovers the hidden ways in which art can change who we are. Movies, novels, and songs do more than entertain us. They inspire us to quit our jobs, take up hobbies, start careers, rethink parenthood, and join political movements.

Aumann argues that art is not always honest or straightforward. It can use beauty, humor, and horror to cast boxing, hiking, motherhood, and activism in a misleading light. Worse, it can lead us to confuse aesthetic appeal with genuine insight. Drawing on examples including Rocky, The Bear, Rachel Yoder's Nightbitch, climate-change installations, and activist memes, Aumann shows how art can change us without relying on reasons and arguments alone.

The result is troubling. Art can lead us astray and undermine our autonomy. Yet there is a bright side. Art can also help us discover more meaningful ways to live. How Art Transforms Us concludes that we should not always resist art's influence. Despite the risks involved, our lives often go better if we open ourselves up to its power.

Accessibility Information

Additional accessibility information

  • PDF/UA-2, 1.4
  • accessibility@bloomsbury.com

Hazards

The publication contains no hazards

Support for non-visual reading

Has alternative text descriptions for images

Navigation

  • Page list to go to pages from the print source version
  • Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
  • All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. How Art Transports Us

2. How Art Inspires Us

3. How Art Converts Us

4. The Case of Motherhood

5. The Case of Activist Art

6. How to Appreciate Transformative Art

Index

Product details

Published 29 Oct 2026
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Pages 248
ISBN 9781350438224
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Antony Aumann

Antony Aumann is Professor of Philosophy at Northe…

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