Department of Philosophy

Phil 616  Studies in Aesthetics:
  Contemporary Issues  
Fall 2008
M 12:45-3:15
Instructor: Eliot Deutsch


SYLLABUS

This seminar will explore selected themes in Contemporary Aesthetics; e.g., the nature of art, interpreting artworks, art and morality, aesthetics of nature and of the different arts. Readings will include both Anglo-American analytic and Continental sources with reference, where appropriate, to Asian works. Each student will prepare one substantial research paper on a topic of his or her choice in consultation with the instructor.  Students with documented disabilities are invited to speak with the instructor and to contact the KOKUA program at 956-7511 (voice/text), QLC 013.

All readings will be in Lamargue & Olsen, Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art : The Analytic Tradition (LO) and Kivy, The Blackwell Guide to Aesthetics (K), unless otherwise specified as handouts or on reserve.



Schedule and Readings

8/25  Levinson, “Philosophical Aesthetics: An Overview”                   (handout)

9/1(Holiday: Labor Day)

Defining Art
9/8    Danto, “The Artworld” in LO (3)
 Levinson, “Defining Art Historically” in LO (4)
 Dickie, “The New Institutional Theory of Art” in LO (5)
 Goodman, “When is Art” (handout)

9/15   Carroll,”Identifying Art,” (handout)
 Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” (handout)
 Adorno, “Art, Society, Aesthetics” (handout)
  Dufrenne, “The World of the Aesthetic Object” (handout)
 
Interpreting Artworks
9/22   Beardsley, “Intentions and Intepretations: A Fallacy                  Revisited” in LO (16)
 Danto, “The Appreciation and Interpretation of Works of       Art” (handout)  
 Chari, “Indian Theories of Interpretation” (handout)


9/29  Stern, “Interpretation in Aesthetics” in K(6)
 Heidegger, “The Origin of the Work of Art” (handout)


10/6  Gadamer, “The Ontology of the Work of Art and its             Hermeneutical Significance,” “The Relevance of the              Beautiful” (handouts)
 
 Art and Morality
10/13  Carroll, “Art and the Moral Realm” in K (7)
 Gaut, “The Ethical Criticism of Art” (handout)
  Kieran, “Forbidden knowledge: The challenge of immoralism”      (handout)

10/20  Tanner, “Ethics and aesthetics are -?” (handout)
 Motherstill, “Make-belief morality and fictional works”         (handout)
 Lyas, “Art, expression and morality” (handout)
 
 
Aesthetics of the Visual Arts
10/27  Wollheim, “What the artist does”; “What the spectator           sees” (in Painting as an Art - on reserve)
 Gombrich, “Visual Metaphors of Value in Art” (handout)
 Merleau-Ponty, Cezanne’s Doubt” (handout)
 Graham, “Architecture” (handout)
              
Film Aesthetics
11/3  Gaut, “The  Philosophy of the Movies: Cinematic                 Narration” in K (13)
 Carroll, “The Power of Movies” in LO (41)
 Baudillard, “The Evil Demons of Images,” (handout)

Philosophy of Literature
11/10  Sartre, “What Is Writing?” (handout)
 Olsen, “Literary Aesthetics and Literary Practice” in LO (36)
 Barthes, “The Death of the Author,” “From Work to Text”              (handouts)
 Lamargue, “The Death of the Author: An Analytical Autopsy”       in LO (37)

Music Aesthetics
11/17  Alperson, “The Philosophy of Music: Formalism and               Beyond” in K (14)
 Scruton, “Understanding Music” in LO (38)
 Kivy, “The Profundity of Music” in LO (39); “Emotions           in the Music” (handout)
 Jullien, “Silent Music,” “The Ideology of Blandness”
   (handouts)  




Aesthetics of Nature
11/24  Crawford, “The Aesthetics of Nature and the Environment”        in K(17)
 Hepurn, “Contemporary Aesthetics and the Neglect of            Natural Beauty” in LO (44)
 Carlson, “The Aesthetics of Nature,”(handout);
   Appreciation and the Natural Environment” in LO (45)
 Budd, “The Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature” in LO (46)

12/1   Student Papers (drafts due 11/24)

12/8   Student Papers (drafts due 12/1)



(12/15   Deadline For Submission of Final Papers)