Aesthetics

3 units

A careful consideration of selected issues regarding the experience of visual art, architecture, music, or literature, as well as of the power or beauty of nature, people, and artifacts. For example, is there a special form of aesthetic experience or aesthetic attitude? In what do aesthetic power and beauty consist? Are they different in art and nature? Do the artists' intentions matter? Some central concerns are: how do visual art and literary texts have 'meaning', what role do the viewer's or reader's interpretations play, and how might recent work in cognitive science and social theory shed light on these issues? Prerequisites: one course in Philosophy at the 300-level, graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.