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Contents Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi Introduction 1 1 Dionysian Pessimism 8 2 The Good and Beautiful Body 34 I The Risk of Virtue 34 II An Outline for a Physiology of Aesthetics 45 3 The Socratic Cure for Life 70 I The Twilight of Ecstasy and the Birth of “Happiness” 70 II Apollo Democratized: The Birth of “Aesthetics” 90 Tomorrow and the Day After Tomorrow 108 Notes 123 Bibliography 141 Index 145 In memory of my father, Joseph Michael Ahern, 1927–2008, and my best friend, Annette Jean Ahern, 1958–2009 ...

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