From Botticelli to birdsong, Mozart, and the Turner Prize, Roger Scruton explores what it means for something to be beautiful. This thought-provoking introduction to the philosophy of beauty draws conclusions that some may find controversial, but, as Scruton shows, help us to find greater sense of meaning in the beautiful objects around us.

• Examines the answers to key questions in aesthetics, such as: What is beauty? Why do we value it? Is beauty good?
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• Asks whether beauty is vanishing from our world
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• This is a strongly-argued counter to the notion that judgements of beauty are purely subjective and relative, and that we can learn little from art criticism and study
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• Looks at beauty in the visual arts, in music, architecture, nature, and literature
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• Argues that our experience of beauty is rationally founded, and that beauty is a real and universal value. Scruton shows how our sense of beauty has an indispensable part to play in the way we shape our world