Aesthetics
Book Information
Title: Aesthetics: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Bence Nanay
Publisher (Arabic Edition): Hindawi Foundation for Education and Culture
Pages: 117
Year of Publication: 2024 (Arabic translation of the 2012 Oxford University Press edition)
Translator: Yasmin Al-Arabi
Summary by: Wadeeah Ebrahim
Book Summary
In Aesthetics: A Very Short Introduction, Bence Nanay redefines what we mean by “beauty.” He argues that aesthetics is not only about fine art or elite taste, but about the way we experience and pay attention to the world around us. Beauty, according to Nanay, does not reside in objects themselves, but in our attentive experience of them.
He explains that the essence of aesthetic experience lies in how we direct and sustain our attention. Whether it’s a painting, a piece of music, or a simple everyday scene like sunlight through a window, beauty happens when we are fully present and perceptively engaged.
Nanay connects this idea directly to design. Good design, like art, guides our attention and shapes our perception. It invites us to experience the world differently to see meaning, harmony, and emotion in the ordinary. The tailor who carefully matches fabrics, for instance, engages in an aesthetic act just as much as a painter does.
Ultimately, Nanay’s book reminds us that aesthetics is not about judgment but experience. It’s about learning how to see, feel, and attend to life with awareness. In this sense, design becomes a living form of aesthetics a way of shaping how people encounter beauty every day.