PHIL 271 (02): Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art Time / Location: MWF 10:30 11:20 / BIOL 125 Instructor: William Buschert <will.buschert@usask.ca> Office / Phone: McLean Hall 126 / (306) 966-6955 Office Hours: MW 1:30 2:30 or by appointment Course Web Site: http://homepage.usask.ca/~wjb289/phil271/ Texts: Eric Dayton, ed., Art and Interpretation: An Anthology of Readings in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art (Broadview Press, 1999) Cynthia Freeland, But is it art? (Oxford University Press, 2001) Additional readings and some materials used in class (e.g., PowerPoint presentations) will be made available on the course web site. Course Description Everyone (or, surely, very nearly everyone) has certain experiences listening to music, reading poetry, looking at pictures, hiking in the wilderness that have (or seem to have) a distinctive, valuable character. Such experiences can involve immediate, powerful emotions and sometimes also have (or seem to have) a powerful cognitive or reflective aspect. When people talk about these experiences they may use a special vocabulary to describe them, using words like beautiful, moving, awesome and the like. For many of us, such experiences are among the most important components of our well-being. For us, a world without such experiences would be almost unimaginably poorer and possibly uninhabitable. Some have gone so far as to say that a person who lacks a capacity for such experiences cannot be a fully developed human being. When Alexander Baumgarten first (re-)introduced the word aesthetics into the philosophical lexicon in the 18 th century, he hoped to inaugurate a new general science of sensory experience. Although things did not develop quite as Baumgarten had hoped, the reception side of aesthetics that is, questions about sensation, perception, and emotional response are still among the main concerns of aestheticians. (By which I mean philosophers who study aesthetics, as opposed to the aestheticians who do manicures, makeup or haircuts.) In this course we will pay a good bit of attention with Hume, Kant, and Dewey especially to the idea of aesthetic experience. Our other main focus, however, will be on the production side of aesthetics, that is, with (normative) philosophy of art. These days aesthetics is often understood to be the poor cousin of the philosophical family most departments offer only one or two courses in the area, some none at all; comparatively few academic philosophers specialize in the area full-time. Yet philosophers have offered important and often highly influential views about what art is and how it supposedly ought to be made from Plato s day down to the present. In fact, philosophers have said and written so much about art that it is difficult to choose what to include in an overview course such as this one. Accordingly, in this course we will investigate a relatively small but, in the instructor s view, fairly representative set of views in aesthetic theory and the philosophy of art. These views, I think, can be circumscribed by one overall question that will be our main point of reference: How does art work? Answering this question will involve looking into other questions, such as: What makes an object
Page 2 qualify as a work of art? What is (or ought to be) the relation between form and content in a successful work of art? What is (or ought to be) the relation between a work of art and the culture and/or society in which (or from which) it arises? Do the artist s intentions matter in understanding or evaluating a work of art, or are they fundamentally irrelevant? Why, after all, do we value art? What do artworks do for us? We will fairly frequently make reference to specific artworks in class and I hope to draw on students knowledge and experience in discussing artworks that exemplify (or fail to exemplify) philosophers theories. That said, this is not a course in art history or literary criticism. If you encounter an artwork in the texts or the lectures that you are not familiar with, I encourage you to look it up (online, say, or in an appropriate encyclopaedia). No specific knowledge of art, music or literature is assumed, though (if only for the reasons outlined above) some enthusiasm for art, music or literature surely couldn t hurt. Assignments and Evaluation Your grade in the course will be based on three pieces of work: 1) Assignment #1 A relatively short (5-7 pages) essay assignment, in the nature of a take-home exam, dealing with topics connected with the historical aesthetic theories presented in the first four weeks of class. Students will be given a choice of several assigned topics, handed out in advance. Some of these topics will be more or less expository and others more interpretive in nature. Date: Friday, February 16, 2018 Weight: 30% 2) Assignment #2 A somewhat longer (10-12 pages) essay assignment, more in the nature of a term paper, in which students will be asked to address one or more general issues raised in the course. Due Date: Friday, March 23, 2018 Weight: 40% Both assignments are to be in the form of argumentative essays. By which I mean that a thesis one or more specific claims supported with reasons should be advanced and defended in your paper. Properly referenced secondary sources (i.e., readings outside of the assigned texts) are permissible and, depending on your choice of topic, possibly advisable, but are not required. Standard scholarly apparatus (explanatory footnotes, references, etc.) should be included as necessary, however. Further information on the assignments will be made available in class. Due dates for the assignments may be amended as the term progresses.
Page 3 3) Final Exam A three-hour exam, covering the entire course. Date: TBA Weight: 30% As you can see, these three grades add up to 100%. You should not conclude from this, however, that other things, such as attendance and participation in class, do not matter. Some material discussed in class will supply details not covered in the readings and class notes, details that you may find helpful when writing the exam and/or the assignments. Moreover, active participation in class can t help but improve your understanding of the material and my impression of you as a student. Policy on Late Assignments Assignments are to be submitted (on paper) in class on the day that they are due. If, for whatever reason, you cannot hand in your assignment at that time, an assignment dropped off with the Office Coordinator for Philosophy (in Arts 523) by the end of the next business day will be deemed to have arrived on time. Assignments received thereafter will be deemed late. Late assignments will not be accepted for grading and will be assigned a grade of 0. Exceptions to this rule will be considered only in cases of serious personal distress (e.g., illness) that a student has supported by completing a Declaration of Absence form: http://students.usask.ca/documents/health/absence.pdf Note: Heavy workloads or the requirements of other courses do not constitute good grounds for an extension. Writing Assistance In philosophy it is important to say what you mean clearly and, above all, precisely. In aid of this, students are encouraged to make use of Student Learning Services (formerly the University Learning Centre). SLS provides one-on-one writing assistance, as well as offering occasional writing workshops. Online writing help is also available. http://library.usask.ca/studentlearning/ In addition, the Department of Philosophy offers an essay tutoring service specifically for students in philosophy courses: http://www.usask.ca/philosophy/helpcentre/ As well, a modest collection of advice about academic writing can be found on the course web site. Academic Honesty and Plagiarism Academic dishonesty includes cheating or any form of deceptive conduct by which an individual or group of individuals uses unauthorized aids or assistance or methods in the completion of academic work. Plagiarism is a specific form of academic misconduct which includes any occasion on which
Page 4 you present someone else's thinking, writing or data as your own. Whether or not it is done intentionally, such conduct is a form of dishonesty in so far as it ends up either deceiving me and/or conferring an unfair advantage over other students. So don t do it. If that s not enough to dissuade you, be advised also that I do indeed follow up on cases of suspected dishonesty and/or plagiarism. All such cases will be referred to the Dean of Arts and Science and may subsequently be investigated by the Student Academic Affairs Committee. The U of S University Council has adopted a comprehensive policy on academic dishonesty: http://www.usask.ca/secretariat/student-conduct-appeals/forms/integritydefined.pdf I suggest that you read this, paying special attention to the list of available penalties. Students with Disabilities If you require any special accommodations due to a disability, please let me know as early as possible in the term so that we can make appropriate arrangements
PHIL 271.3 (02) Proposed Schedule Dates Readings (in roughly the order in which they will be discussed) 01.03 Introductory Class 01.05 01.12 The Dumb Show and Some Stage Setting Blood and beauty and Paradigms and purposes (Freeland, 1-59) Bell, Significant Form (handout) Bullough, Psychical Distance (handout) 01.15 01.19 Historical Views I: Mimesis, Catharsis, and the Functions of Art Plato, Selections from the Republic and Symposium (Dayton, 10-18) Aristotle, Selections from the Poetics (Dayton, 24-36) 01.22 01.31 Historical Views II: Taste and Disinterestedness Hume, Standard of Taste (Dayton, 37-47) Kant, Selections from Analytic of the Beautiful and Analytic of the Sublime (Dayton,48-89) 02.02 02.09 Historical Views III: Poetry, Tragedy, and Romanticism Shelley, A Defense of Poetry (Dayton, 90-105) Nietzsche, Selections from The Birth of Tragedy (Dayton, 106-15) 02.12 02.16 Expression Theories Collingwood, The Craft Theory of Art and Art as Expression (Dayton, 130-55) Dewey, Art as Experience (Dayton, 156-67) Background: Cognition, creation, comprehension (Freeland, 148-176) Assignment # 1 Due 02.16 02.19 02.23 T2 Break Week No Classes 02.26 03.02 Psychology, Expression, Interpretation Freud, The Relation of the Poet to Day Dreaming (Dayton, 300-304) Jung, Psychology and Literature (Dayton 305-314) 03.05 03.09 Institutional Theories Danto, Artworks and Real Things (Dayton, 242-50) Dickie, The New Institutional Theory of Art (Dayton, 257-64) Background: Money, markets, and museums (Freeland, 90-121) 03.12 03.16 Intention and Interpretation Wimsatt and Beardsley, The Intentional Fallacy (handout) Barthes, The Death of the Author (Dayton, 383-6) Hirsch, In Defense of the Author (Dayton, 372-82)
Page 6 03.19 03.23 Modernism and Postmodernism Greenberg, Modernist Painting (Dayton, 454-8) Habermas, Modernity An Incomplete Project (Dayton, 459-66) Lyotard, Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism? (Dayton, 467-73) Hutcheon, Representing the Postmodern (Dayton, 474-8) Assignment # 2 Due 03.23 03.26 03.28 Culture, Gender, and Difference Wolff, Women s Knowledge and Women s Art (Dayton, 508-17) Scheman, The Body Politic/The Impolitic Body/Bodily Politics (Dayton, 534-9) Clifford, On Ethnographic Allegory and On Collecting Art and Culture (Dayton, 540-65) Background: Cultural crossings and Gender, Genius, and Guerrilla Girls (Freeland, 60-89 ; 122-147) 04.02 04.04 Art, Technology, and the Future Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (Dayton 415-28) Background: Digitizing and dissemination (Freeland, 177-205) 04.06 Review or Catch-Up (as needed) Final Exams begin 04.09 Dayton refers to Eric Dayton, ed., Art and Interpretation, (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 1999); Freeland refers to Cynthia Freeland, But is it art?, (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001). handout, oddly enough, refers to readings handed out in class (these are also available under Readings on the course web site).