Available for the first time in English, Li Zehou's philosophical aesthetics interpret the historical origins and evolution of aesthetic experience and their significance to the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth of human beings. Although LI's ideas have been debated in China for more than two decades, his conversations with Jane Cauvel will now allow Western students and philosophers to re-encounter Chinese and Western conceptions of aesthetics, and the way art shapes indiciduals, societies, technology, and the future of humankind.

The power of the arts to transform animates Li Zehou's aesthetics, well known to Chinese aestheticians but little known in the West. Li believes his sedimentation theory combined with his reinterpretations of Marx and traditional Chinese thought overcome weaknesses in Western aesthetics. Ideas Li sees as fundamental to aesthetic development, the transforming powers of aesthetic experience, and goals Li sets for self-cultivation and creativity as artists confront contemporary global issues are examined. Perhaps overly sanguine to jaded Western readers, Li's confidence (...) that Chinese traditional philosophies and aesthetics can respond constructively to the disruptions of contemporary culture and technology are thought-provoking and insightful. (shrink)