Art of the Modern Age. Philosophy of Art from Kant to Heidegger.

First edition in English. 8vo. Pp. xvii, 352, [4 (blank)]. Grey buckram, stamped in gilt to spine; tan endpapers. Bibliographical notes, indexes. Translated from the French by Steven Rendall, with a foreword by Arthur C. Danto. Series editors, Thomas Pavel and Mark Lilla. New French Thought series. Originally published in 1992 by Éditions Gallimard as L'Art de l'âge moderne: L'Esthétique et la philosophie de l'art du XVIIIe siècle à nos jours.

A critique of the philosophy of art as it developed from the 18th to the early 20th century in which Schaeffer explores the writings of Kant, Schlegel, Novalis, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Heidegger to show that these diverse thinkers shared a common approach to art, which he calls the 'speculative theory.' He goes on to claim that this theory helped give birth to romanticism, modernism, and the avant-garde, and paved the way for an unfortunate divorce between art and enjoyment, between 'high art' and popular art, and between artists and their public.

"This academically solid, well-documented book... [offers] very good background for courses in the history of aesthetics or art theory." –Choice