PHILOSOPHY OF ART AND BEAUTY Philosophy 203 Jay Odenbaugh Department of Philosophy Howard 259 TTH 150 320pm 503.957.7377 Office Hours: TTH 11 12TTH Howard 230 Gerhard Richter, Davos, 1981 I. Course Description. This course is an exploration of aesthetics and the philosophy of art. Here are some of the questions we will consider. What is art? What ties together George Saunders Civilwarland in Bad Decline, Frank Lloyd Wright s Fallingwater House, Gerhard Richter s Davos, the Talking Head s Burning Down the House, and countless other objects under the common concept of ART? Can there be a single account of what art is that adequately reflects the variety of artworks? How are artworks to be evaluated? Do the aesthetic properties of artworks depend on their history of production, genre, or solely on what we see? What role does originality or creativity play in the production of artworks? What role do the intentions of artists play in the interpretation of the work? What role must or should they play? Can we for example make sense of pure irony without consulting the artist s intentions? How should we respond to fictions? How can we be afraid of Regan McNeil in The Exorcist? How can we feel empathy for the parents in Yasujirō Ozu s A Tokyo Story? Is it true that Sherlock Holmes lives a 221B Baker Street and false that he lives at 222B Baker Street? How can a painting or sculpture depict something? Do they do so in virtue of resembling those states of affairs? E.g., in virtue of what is La Femme-Fleur a portrait of Françoise Gilot (Picasso said No a realistic portrait would not represent you at all )? How can Brancusi s Bird in Space represent the essence of flight? How can instrumental music express emotions? Why is Miles Davis Blue in Green sad? II. Required Texts. There are two required texts:
Gracyk, T. and R. Stecker Baitlin, (2010) Aesthetics Today: A Reader. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Goldblatt, D and L. B. Brown (2011) Aesthetics: A Reader in Philosophy of the Arts. Prentice Hall. 3 rd edition. IV. Late Work. All assignments are due on the scheduled dates. However, if you come to me at least one full day in advance you may have one week's extension, no excuse required. However, be aware that turning in a paper by extension will delay feedback and that you may not have the time you need to improve and develop before the next assignment. V. Learning Differences. If you have been diagnosed with a learning difference and are seeking an accommodation, please provide me, as soon as possible, with a Notice of Disability and Statement of Accommodation from Dale Hollaway, Coordinator of Student Support Services. VI. Academic Integrity. I expect you to understand and abide by the College s Academic Integrity Policy and Procedures. If you have any questions about the policy, I encourage you to come and talk with me. Failure to cite sources on written assignments is plagiarism, for which students have been dismissed from LC. If you have doubts about how to make proper citations, ask me or consult the writing center. VII. Grades. The final grade for this course will be calculated on follows: Three exams (midterm and final) (25% 3) Blogging (25%) Tests: You will be given 3 exams. I will circulate questions a week in advance (e.g. eight questions) and will pick a subset (e.g. four questions), which will appear on the exam. You will do fine if you have done the readings with care. Blogging: Each week you should contribute to the class blog twice. During each week, I will write a prompt that contains a question, comment, or argument on which you will comment. You can comment on my prompt or on another blogger s post. This helps ensure you are keeping up with the readings. Again, you will do fine if you have done the readings with care. #A, 90+, Excellent Exams receiving a grade in this range clearly demonstrate advanced understanding of the basic concepts and issues in the text(s). In addition, these exams provide a sustained argument and critique of the text or provide substantial and interesting questions concerning the interpretation of the text. B, 80 89, Good Exams receiving a grade in this range demonstrate a basic, but thorough, understanding of fundamental concepts and issues. Where understanding is lacking, an earnest attempt at interpreting the author is evident. In addition, these responses show a somewhat successful attempt at critical examination, argument, or questioning of the text. The answers as a whole are
Participation mostly focused and well-organized. C, 2, 70 79, Satisfactory Exams receiving a grade in this range demonstrate some (possibly incomplete) understanding of basic concepts and issues. In addition, these responses show little or no earnest attempt at interpretation, critical examination, or questioning of the text. Exam answers lack focus and are poorly organized. Errors in grammar or spelling are frequent. D F, Unsatisfactory Exams receiving a grade in this range have failed to demonstrate any degree of real understanding of basic concepts and issues, and lack evidence of an earnest attempt to do so. I expect you to be fully prepared for class each week. Full preparation includes not only keeping up with the reading, but also spending time thinking about the topic for the day. Your success and that of the class will depend upon your active, informed contribution to class discussions. You should come to each class having read the required material and prepared to participate in the class. Regular attendance is essential for successful completion of this course. Grade Scale The course grading scale is as follows: A = 93 100, A- = 90 92, B+ = 86 89, B = 83 85, B- = 80 82, C+ = 76 79, C = 73 75, C- = 70 72, D+ = 66 69, D = 60-65, F = 0 59 Learning Goals Students who engage successfully with the materials and assignments in this course will be able to: Identify and assess beliefs by critically assessing the logical relationships between them and their consequences including being able to identify premises and conclusions the strength and cogency of these arguments. Identify philosophical puzzles and problems. Value the understanding that philosophical thinking, reading and dialogue #provides. Identify and appreciate different forms of value (e.g. instrumental vs. intrinsic; #moral vs. non-moral). Use standard philosophical tools and methods including conceptual analysis and thought experiments. Use criteria to assess the relative merits of competing theories. Students will use
criteria such as coherence, consistency, conservativeness, simplicity, scope, predictive ability and common sense to adjudicate among theories. Recognize kinds of philosophical claims (e.g. metaphysical, epistemological, etc). Recognize relationships among theories and among the major areas of philosophy: epistemology, metaphysics, logic, and value theory. Read philosophical texts critically. Students will charitably identify, understand and assess the adequacy of arguments, explanations and hypotheses. Write effective philosophical prose. Students will use writing to understand, evaluate and propose solutions to philosophical problems. Cooperatively engage verbally in philosophical dialogue and communication. Identify and evaluate important sources of information (i.e., find useful and #reliable texts). Engage contemporary and historical philosophical conversations about #philosophical problems. Create philosophical works that are informed, insightful and authoritative way. Tentative Schedule I reserve the right to change the readings as we go; likewise, feel free to make suggestions of what is interesting to you. Week 1 Painting Week 2 Painting Week 3 Depiction Week 4 Photography Week 5 Film Week 6 Architecture Against Imitation, Plato The Limits of Likeness, Ernst Gombrich Form in Modern Painting, Clive Bell On Modernist Painting, Clement Greenberg Reality Remade, Nelson Goodman The Perfect Fake, Nelson Goodman Works of Art and Mere Real Things, Arthur C. Danto The Origin of the Work of Art, Martin Heidegger Seeing-as, Seeing-in, and Pictorial Representation, Wollheim Pictorial Recognition, Lopes Pictorial Art and Visual Experience, Hopkins Transparent Pictures, Kendall L. Walton Why Photography Doesn t Represent Artistically, Roger Scruton What s Special About Photography? Ted Cohen Allegory of the Cave, Plato The Power of Movies, Noël Carroll Woman as Image, Man as Bearer of the Look, Laura Mulvey Beauty and Evil: the Case of Leni Riefenstahl, Mary Devereaux First Exam The Problem of Architecture, Roger Scruton Virtual Space, Suzanne Langer Art and Architecture, Gordon Graham
Week 7 Ontology of Music Week 8 Expression in Music Week 9 Literature Week 10 Week 11 Literature Week 12 Fiction Week 13 Aesthetic Experience & Judgment Week 15 What is Art? Reconsidering the Aesthetics of Architecture, Allen Carlson Architecture as Decorated Shelter, Robert Venturi On the Concept of Music, Jerrold Levinson Ontology of Music, Ben Caplan and Carl Matheson Making Tracks, Andrew Kania Representation of Feeling Is Not the Content of Music, Eduard Hanslick Sound and Semblance, Peter Kivy The Expression of Emotion in Music, Stephen Davis A New Romantic Theory of Expression, Jenefer Robinson What Is Literature? Terry Eagleton The Intention of the Author, Monroe Beardsley What Is an Author? Michel Foucault Criticism as Retrieval, Richard Wollheim Second Exam Spring Break An Intentional Demonstration? Gary Iseminger A Paradox in Intentionalism, Daniel O. Nathan On What a Text Is and How It Means, William E. Tolhurst Imagination and Make-Believe, Gregory Currie What Is Fiction? Gregory Currie How Can We Fear and Pity Fictions? Peter Lamarque Spelunking, Simulation, and Slime: On Being Moved by Fiction, Kendall L. Walton Analytic of the Beautiful, Immanuel Kant Of the Standard of Taste, David Hume Objectivity and Aesthetics, Frank Sibley Aesthetic Properties, Evaluative Force, and Differences of Sensibility, Jerrold Levinson Aesthetic Concepts, Frank Sibley Categories of Art, Kendall L. Walton The Role of Theory in Aesthetics, Morris Weitz Art as a Social Institution, George Dickie Third Exam