Aesthetics

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This is a hybrid lecture/seminar course in which we consider several of the main topics in aesthetics and the philosophy of art: what beauty might be, what makes something a work of art, the nature of aesthetic representation, the nature of artistic expression, the function of criticism in the reception of art, the relation of art to morality and to politics. Readings are approximately divided equally from the history of philosophy and art criticism and more contemporary materials. Both materials from Anglo-American and more European perspectives are considered. Close attention to and analysis of art works (i.e. painting, poetry, film, music) will be undertaken in order to "test" the theories we consider. Readings from: Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, R.G. Collingwood, Nelson Goodman, Richard Wollheim, Arthur Danto, Michel Foucault, Walter Benjamin and others.