Art Scents Exploring the Aesthetics of Smell and the Olfactory Arts

Larry Shiner is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Illinois, his research focuses on the history of the concept of art, the relation of art to craft and design, the aesthetics of museum architecture, the aesthetics of smell, and the role of literary form in writing history. His writings on those topics include numerous articles in major journals and two books: The Secret Mirror: Literary Form and History in Tocqueville's Recollections (Cornell University Press, 1988) and The Invention of Art: A Cultural History (University of Chicago Press, 2001).

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I. What Can the Nose Know?
Overview: The Challenge of the Olfactory Arts
Chapter 1: The Fear of Smell
Chapter 2: Neuroscience and Psychology of Smell I: What the Nose Can Do
Chapter 3: Neuroscience and Psychology of Smell II: What the Nose Can't Do
Chapter 4: Smell, Emotion, and Aesthetics

Part II. Smell Redeemed: Language, Culture and Memory
Overview: A Biocultural Approach
Chapter 5: The Dialectic of Deodorization: Smell in Western History
Chapter 6: Language, Culture, and Smell
Chapter 7: Writing Smell
Chapter 8: Odor, Memory, and Proust

Part III. Discovering the Olfactory Arts
Overview: What is Olfactory Art?
Chapter 9: Toward a Total Work of Art: Smell in Theater, Film, Music
Chapter 10: Sublime Stenches: Contemporary Olfactory Art
Chapter 11: Beautiful Fragrances: Is Perfume a Fine Art?
Chapter 12: Perfume Between Art and Design

Part IV. The Aesthetics and Ethics of Scenting
Overview: Varieties of Aesthetic Experience
Chapter 13: The Meanings and Morality of Scenting the Body
Chapter 14: Ambient Scenting, Architecture, and the City
Chapter 15: Enhancing Flavors with Scents in Contemporary Cuisine

Conclusion

Bibliography