Content

The course will deal with some major topics in aesthetics and philosophy of art. The major focus will be on the transition from the traditional mimetic (imitative) ideal of art to the Romantic and post-Romantic stress on originality and creativity. The legacy of this development is still at issue in contemporary aesthetic culture. The question of the autonomy of art will be raised, as well as the relation between art and what is other to it. The challenge and relation of art to philosophy will be an important concern, as well as the relation of both art and philosophy to the religious. Notions such as beauty, sublimity, ugliness, genius, both traditional and contemporary, will also be explored. The interplay between aesthetic culture and the imaginative envisagement of forms of life will be of interest.  

Course material

• Philosophies of Art and Beauty : Selected Readings in Aesthetics from Plato to Heidegger, Edited by Hofstadter, Albert., Kuhns, Richard
• William Desmond, Art, Origins, Otherness. Between Philosophy and Art (SUNY, 2003)
• William Desmond, The Gift of Beauty and the Passion of Being (Wipf and Stock, 2018)

A selection of texts will also be made available on Toledo.

Format: more information

Readings are assigned for each session from the texts on Toledo. The student is expected to read these assignments in advance. The teacher will elucidate and discuss these readings, and there will be opportunities for discussion and questions from students. Students are strongly advised to take adequate notes of the lecture-presentation by the teacher. They are also strongly advised to keep up with the assigned reading. Attendance is mandatory.

The course will be conducted in compliance with the applicable corona regulations. Students should consult Toledo for further information.