Forbidden Aesthetics, Ethical Justice, and Terror in Modern Western Culture

Most would find it improper, even immoral, to admit to an aesthetic experience of the beautiful in the midst of terror and disaster. In this book, Emmanouil Aretoulakis explores the fascination with terror and human tragedy, which he terms forbiddenaesthetics, through various lenses including Kant’s idea of disinterested judgement of the beautiful and Burke’s concept of delight before real catastrophe.