Draws upon a wide range of aesthetic theories and artworks in order to challenge the view that art is valueless or purely subjective.

By analyzing the three loci of aesthetics-the subjective, the objective, and the absolute-the author concludes that only the sublime demonstrates that art is neither subjective nor objective. The one essential component of art is the new, the sole "instrument" that can guarantee art's vitality even when confronted by the nihilistic tendencies of modernity.