• Examines the answers to key questions in aesthetics, such as: What is beauty? Why do we value it? Is beauty good?
• Asks whether beauty is vanishing from our world
• This is a strongly-argued counter to the notion that judgements of beauty are purely subjective and relative, and that we can learn little from art criticism and study
• Looks at beauty in the visual arts, in music, architecture, nature, and literature
• Argues that our experience of beauty is rationally founded, and that beauty is a real and universal value. Scruton shows how our sense of beauty has an indispensable part to play in the way we shape our world

Beauty can be consoling, disturbing, sacred, profane; it can be exhilarating, appealing, inspiring, chilling. It can affect us in an unlimited variety of ways. Yet it is never viewed with indifference.

In this Very Short Introduction the renowned philosopher Roger Scruton explores the concept of beauty, asking what makes an object - either in art, in nature, or the human form - beautiful, and examining how we can compare differing judgements of beauty when it is evident all around us that our tastes vary so widely. Is there a right judgement to be made about beauty? Is it right to say there is more beauty in a classical temple than a concrete office block, more in a Rembrandt than in last year's Turner Prize winner?

Forthright and thought-provoking, and as accessible as it is intellectually rigorous, this introduction to the philosophy of beauty draws conclusions that some may find controversial, but, as Scruton shows, help us to find greater sense of meaning in the beautiful objects that fill our lives.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Readership: General readers interested in philosophical questions about beauty in art, and in the arts themselves (from visual arts to music and literature). Also students of philosophy, aesthetics, and in the humanities more broadly.