Virtues and Vices in the Arts: A Sourcebook

"The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, greed, and lust. The seven virtues are prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice, faith, hope, and love. "The Virtues and Vices in the Arts" brings all of them together and for the first time lays out their history in a collection of the most important philosophical, religious, literary, and art-historical works. Starting with the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian antecedents, this anthology of source documents traces the tradition of virtues and vices through its cultural apex during the medieval era and then into their continued development and transformation from the Renaissance to the present. This anthology includes excerpts of Plato's "Republic", the Bible, Dante's "Purgatorio", and the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and C.S. Lewis. Also included are works of art from medieval manuscripts; paintings by Giotto, Veronese, and Paul Cadmus; prints by Brueghel; and a photograph by Oscar Rejlander. What these works show is the vitality and richness of the virtues and vices in the arts from their origins to the present. Shawn R. Tucker is Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at Elon University, North Carolina. He was recently the guest editor for a special issue of "Interdisciplinary Humanities" and has received a National Endowment for the Humanities Enduring Questions grant to develop a course on Pride, Humility, and the Good Life. "Tucker puts excerpts from philosophical treatises into conversation with religious and literary compositions. Even more interesting, he draws on key artistic works, paintings, and sculpture, allowing the reader to imagine other ways to think about ethical problems. With a useful and accessible introduction, not to mention shorter introductions for each reading, Tucker has constructed an excellent sourcebook for any undergraduate class touching on the history of ethics in the Western tradition." Dallas G. Denery II, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine. "Shawn Tucker demonstrates how the concepts of virtue and vice are not only very relevant to contemporary Western culture but have a comprehensive, fluid, and contested history in art and literature. This interdisciplinary study of these core cultural concepts, and a serious inquiry into what behaviour we sanction and what behaviour we condemn, is a welcome addition to the study of humanities. Tucker's lively introductions are especially effective at linking ancient texts and artistic works to modern ones, with generous nods to contemporary music, television, and cultural phenomenon such as fad diets and Christian rock." Lee Ann Elliott Westman, University of Texas at El Paso."

Publisher -

Language - English

Paperback

Contributors

Author

Shawn R. Tucker

Shawn R. Tucker

Edited by

Shawn R. Tucker

Published Date -

ISBN - 9780718894047

Dimensions - 25.4 x 17.8 x 1.6 cm

Page Count - 300