PHIL 264 - Aesthetics

FDR: HU
Credits: 3

A consideration of the basic issues in philosophy of art. Selected viewings and readings from contemporary sources. What counts as art, and why do we value it? Do the particular arts, such as architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and poetry, have a pecking order? What do works of art tell us about ourselves? What sets of skills, sensibilities, and insights are required of an artist? This course examines these questions in the work of G.W.F. Hegel and Friedrich Nietzsche. Hegel’s Lectures on Fine Art represents perhaps the greatest attempt of philosophy to comprehend art, whereas Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy aims to show how art not only resists any such attempt but also undermines and overcomes philosophy. Lambert.