A theory of art

"What, if anything, has art to do with the rest of our lives, and in particular with those ethical and political issues that matter to us most? Will art created today be likely to play a role in our lives as profound as that of the best art of the past?"--BOOK JACKET. "A Theory of Art shifts the focus of aesthetics from the traditional debate of "what is art?" to the question of "what is art for?" By investigating the functions of art, author Karol Berger shows that a rational debate on the proper allocation of public and private resources to the arts is possible."--BOOK JACKET.