Forbidden Aesthetics, Ethical Justice, and Terror in Modern Western Culture

Emmanouil Aretoulakis embraces controversy and conflict with courage by delving into the forbidden aesthetics of the images of terrorism, unraveling the ethical and a-moral implications of the Kantian feeling of pleasure that trumps the impotency of the awe and terror of the sublime. He proposes that along with empathy and humor, aesthetic judgement empowers the viewer or reader who survives as witness to horrific events rather than cowering in fear to their devastation. If scholars of terrorism wish to reflect on its spectacular images in a meaningful way, this book's developing thesis will guide them through the multidisciplinary labyrinth of philosophy, semiotics, media studies, psychology, and sociology -- Julia Keefer, New York University
In this scholarly study, Aretoulakis makes a compelling case for recognizing the beauty in cataclysmic events that evoke terror, whether they be caused by humans or occur naturally. Guided primarily by a Kantian aesthetic of disinterestedness, he disavows ascriptions of the sublime and argues instead for recognizing a forbidden aesthetics of beauty in the experience of terror. He finds this fascination inexplicably present in the three terror-evoking events he analyzes: the suicide attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755. Widely informed and rich with unexpected insights, this book widens the scope and relevance of aesthetics. -- Arnold Berleant, author of Aesthetics beyond the Arts