Abstract

The views of Ziff in this collection of essays are always challenging and frequently are marked by brilliant insight. Thirteen essays are found in this volume, all of which had been previously published, with the exception of "Truth in Poetry," in which Ziff argues that it is not appropriate to ask if what a poem says is true since poems are not statements. The essays can be divided into three groups, the first group dealing with aesthetics, the second group treating of topics in the philosophy of language, and the third dealing with the philosophy of mind. Also included is an essay "About God." The five essays in aesthetics, which take up roughly half the book, constitute one of the most distinguished bodies of work in contemporary analytic aesthetics. Besides "Truth and Poetry," this group contains "Art and the Object of Art," in which Ziff argues that art is not an illusion, and "Reasons in Art Criticism" in which he tries to determine what is acceptable as a reason why a painting is good. Also included is an essay in which Ziff seeks to give a plausible characterization of pictorial representation and one examining some of the problems in defining a work of art. The four essays in the philosophy of language supplement the author's Semantic Analysis. They are largely concerned with exploring the boundary between syntax and semantics. There is an essay examining ungrammaticalness and one examining how ungrammatical sentences can be understood. Another treats of ambiguity while the fourth attempts to show that active and passive sentences are not synonymous. The essays in the philosophy of mind are a much less well-knit group. The three essays take up the problem of other minds, the feeling of robots and an argument against behaviorism. The chief value of this collection is in gathering together Ziff's important contributions in the field of aesthetics. It also has value for its stimulating and original thought in other fields. Highly recommended.—F. S. M.