Topic:
What is a work of art? How should we look at/listen to/read a work of art? How do we distinguish artworks from other perceptible objects, and from other perceptible artefacts in particular? Is the answer to the latter question ontological in kind, or is the distinction merely a matter of our respective attitudes? If so, what distinguishes an aesthetic from a non-aesthetic attitude? Is the aesthetic attitude merely cognitive or a merely emotional in kind? And finally, does an object, in order to be a work of art, have to have aesthetic merit? If so, what is aesthetic merit? And how do we discover it? Is aesthetic merit a matter of taste, be it the taste of an individual person or of the members of a social class? Or is there a truth of the matter in our aesthetic judgments about works of art and their aesthetic merit?
We shall explore answers to these questions as they have been given by different philosophers, dead and alife.
The course will be taught in English. Most of the reading material will be in English, some of it will be made available on FRONTER. The required written pieces can be submitted either in English or in Norwegian.
Requirements:
In order to get their study points, participants will have to prepare one session and introduce the discussion (1 page summary of the reading and questions). Furthermore, they will have to submit a draft of their semesteroppgave before they deliver the final version of this paper..
Reading list:
- Bourdieu, Pierre (2010) Distinction. The Hague: Routledge (selected passages).
(Norsk utgave: “Distinksjonen”, Oslo: Pax, 1995)
- Danto, Arthur (1964) ‘The Artworld.’ The Journal of Philosophy LXI, 571-587. FRONTER
- Danto, Arthur (1981) The Transfiguration of the Commonplace. Cambridge/Mass: Harvard University Press (selected passages).
- DeDuve, Thierry (2004 unpublished) ‘Kant’s ‘Free play…’ in Light of Minimal Art.’ FRONTER
- DeDuve, Thierry (2004/2010 unpublished) ‘Overture: Why Kant Got It Right.’ FRONTER
- DeDuve, Thierry (2012 unpublished) ‘The Antinomy of Art.’ FRONTER
- Eldridge, Richard (2014) An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art. Cambridge: CUP. (just as background reading)
- Fricke, Christel (unpublished) ‘The Transsubstantiation of the Commonplace?’ FRONTER
- Fricke, Christel (1995) ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.’ Proceedings of the Eighth International Kant Congress. Memphis 1995, Vol. I, Part 2, Memphis 1995, 793-802. FRONTER
- Hume, David (1757/2008) “Of the Standard of Taste”, in Selected Essays, Oxford Paperbacks, pp. 133-153. FRONTER
(Norsk utgave: “Estetisk teori: en antologi”, red. av Bale, Kjersti og Bø-Rygg, Arnfinn, Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2008.)
- Goodman, Nelson (1968/1981) “Languages of Art”. Brighton/Sussex: The Harvester Press.
- Kant, Immanuel (1790/2001) Critique of the Power of Judgment. Part 1, “Critique of the power of aesthetic judgment”, Cambridge: CUP University Press.
(Norsk utgave: “Kritikk av dømmekraften” (i utvalg), Oslo: Pax, 1995.)
- Railton, Peter (1998) “Aesthetic value, moral value, and the ambitions of naturalism”. In: Jerrold Levinson (ed) Aesthetics and Ethics. Essays at the Intersection. Cambridge: CUP, pp 59-105. FRONTER
- Shusterman, Richard (2012) ‘Art as Religion. Transfigurations of Danto’s Dao.’ In: Mark Rollins (ed) Danto and his critics. London: Wily/Blackwell, 251-266. FRONTER
- Smith, Adam (1759/1790/1984) The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund (selected passages). FRONTER
- Wollheim, Richard (2012) ‘Danto’s Gallery of Indiscernibles.’ In: Mark Rollins (ed) Danto and his critics. London: Wily/Blackwell, 30-39. FRONTER
- Zangwill, Nick (2001) ‘Hume, Taste, and Teleology.’ In: Nick Zangwill, The Metaphysics of Beauty. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, chap. 9. FRONTER