Pali – Diversity Reading List

Coomaraswamy, Ananda K.. Samvega, ‘Aesthetic Shock’

1943, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 7(3): 174-179.

Topics: Aesthetic Experience and Judgement; Aesthetic Normativity and Value; Metaphysics of Aesthetics
Keywords: India; Indian aesthetics; aesthetic experience; art; contemplation; disinterest; emotion

Traditions: Comparative/Intercultural; Cultural; Historical; South Asian
Languages: English; Pali

Expand entry: Added by: Meilin Chinn

Summary: An explication of the Pali aesthetic term samvega as the state of shock and wonder at a work of art that occurs when the implications of its aesthetic qualities are experienced. Despite being an emotion, Coomaraswamy associates samvega with disinterested aesthetic contemplation.

Comment: This text would work well in a focused study of Indian aesthetics, as well in a cross-cultural study of disinterest in aesthetics.

Difficulty: Intermediate

Recommended use: Specialised reading

Comments (0): read and add advice on using this text

Export citation in BibTeX format

Export text citation

View this text on PhilPapers

Export citation in Reference Manager format

Export citation in EndNote format

Export citation in Zotero format

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share by Email

Can’t find it?

Contribute the texts you think should be here and we’ll add them soon!

Aesthetics
-Aesthetic Experience and Judgement
-Aesthetic Normativity and Value
-Artistic Movements
-Artistry and Creativity
-Ethics and Socio-Politics of Aesthetics
-Individual Arts and Crafts
-Metaphysics of Aesthetics
Epistemology
-Applied Epistemology
-Formal Epistemology
-Metaepistemology
-Social Epistemology
-Standpoint Epistemology
-Theoretical Epistemology
-Zetetic Epistemology
Metaphilosophy
-Ethics and Socio-Politics of Philosophy
-Historiography of Philosophy
-Philosophical Biography
-Philosophical Media and Methodology
-Philosophical Translation and/or Commentary
-Philosophy Education
-The Nature Value and Aims of Philosophy
Metaphysics
-Causation
-Free Will
-Identity and Change
-Mereology
-Metametaphysics
-Modality
-Ontology and Metaontology
-Properties Propositions and Relations
-Space Time and Space-Time
-Truth and Truthmaking
Moral Philosophy
-Applied Ethics
-Descriptive Ethics
-Formal Ethics
-Metaethics
-Moral Psychology
-Normative Ethics
-Philosophy of Action
Philosophy of Language
-Communication
-Ethics and Socio-Politics of Language
-Grammar and Meaning
-Language and Mind
-Linguistics
-Metaphysics of Language
Philosophy of Mind
-Artificial Intelligence
-Cognitive Science
-Consciousness
-Intentionality
-Mental States and Processes
-Metaphysics of Mind and Body
-Neuroscience
-Psychiatry
-Psychology
Philosophy of Religion
-Afterlife
-Creation
-Deities and their Attributes
-Divination Faith and Miracles
-Environment
-Ethics and Socio-Politics of Religion
-Religious Development, Experience, and Personhood
-Theodicy
Philosophy of the Formal Social and Natural Sciences
-Anthropology
-Archaeology and History
-Economics
-Geography
-Life Sciences
-Logic and Mathematics
-Physical Sciences
-Psychology
-Sociology
Political Philosophy
-Equality
-Forms of Government
-Freedom and Rights
-Justice
-Law and Public Policy
-Political Authority and Legitimacy
-Political Economy
-Political Ideologies
-War and Peace
Social Philosophy
-Class
-Culture
-Disability
-Education
-Gender Sex and Sexuality
-Personal and Social Identity
-Race
-Sustainability
-Technology and Material Culture
-Work Labor and Leisure

Geographical
-Australasian/Oceanian
-Caribbean
-Central American
-Central Asian
-East Asian
-European
-Mediterranean
-North African
-North American
-South American
-South Asian
-Southeast Asian
-Sub-Saharan African
-West Asian
-World
Methodological
-Analytic
-Comparative/Intercultural
-Critical
-Cultural
-Existential
-Experimental
-Formal
-Hermeneutical
-Historical
-Phenomenological
-Pragmatic
-Religious