The Sense of Beauty (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

By George Santayana and Marc Lucht

This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading.  George Santayana is an unequaled champion of emotional life and the value of pure contemplation and imaginative play. In his first philosophical book, The Sense of Beauty, Santayana elucidates how the contemplation of beautiful ideals invests our lives with meaning. His great achievement is to offer a way of retaining the significance of spiritual and moral values in the context of a predominantly materialist and scientific world. This seminal work explores aesthetics, the psychological and cultural importance of art, and the relationship between the humanities and the sciences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Mar 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781411466777

George Santayana

George Santayana, born Jorge Augustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana (1863–1952), was a Spanish-American philosopher, novelist, poet, and essayist. He is best known for his witty aphorisms, especially the phrase, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Santayana was born in Spain, but was raised and educated in the United States. He attended Harvard College and later taught philosophy there. During this time he wrote many of his seminal philosophical works, including The Sense of Beauty, The Life of Reason, and The Realms of Being. In 1912, Santayana moved to Europe, where he devoted his life to writing both fiction and nonfiction.