By taking a normative question--why should we value the arts?--this book manages to develop a genuinely philosophical understanding of art and its value while never losing sight of the poems, pictures and music which draw and sustain interest in the arts. In this new second edition, chapters have been revised to include new material and also an added chapter about the subjectivity of aesthetic judgement, the importance of the artist's intention and the possibility of an aesthetic appreciation of nature. Some of the complex issues surrounding disputes between Marxism, structuralism and postmodernism are also introduced.