molly_kbl 's review for:

Beauty: A Very Short Introduction by Roger Scruton

5.0

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Roger Scruton brings another aesthetic and moral philosophy powerhouse in this deceptively slim work. Don't let its brevity fool you: the beginning, though slow-going, sets the stage for fascinating and illuminating look at what beauty is and why it's important in our society. Covering everything from painting, sculpture, architecture, fashion, film, religion, music, television, sex, pornography, gardening, home decorating—basically everything. Though he never writes in an overtly prescriptive way, you'll come away from this book with a sense that beauty is real and good and important, a, in the Lutheran way of speaking, First Article gift of God that proves to us, both rationally and emotionally, that we belong in His creation as His created beings, and that this knowledge should shape what we say, do, believe, and partake of.