! "! PHL 317K Introduction to Philosophy of the Arts Fall 2013 Unique # 43015, 43016, 34017 TIME: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00-3:00 p.m. and a third hour LOCATION: CAL 100 (TTH 2:00 – 2:50 p.m.) (Check your schedule for third hour location) INSTRUCTOR: Prof. Kathleen Higgins OFFICE: WAG 203 (512) 471-5564 OFFICE HOURS: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:45-11:45 a.m. E-MAIL: <[email protected]> COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will consider some of the answers given in the Western philosophical tradition to questions about the nature of art and beauty, as well as offering a brief overview of some perspectives from Japan. Particular attention will be given to the distinction between art and reality, and to the nature of the aesthetic experience from the standpoint of both the artist and the observer. TEACHING ASSISTANT: Jonathan Vanderhoek OFFICE: WAG 309 OFFICE HOURS: Wednesdays, 10:00-12:00 a.m. E-MAIL: [email protected] TEXTBOOK: Kathleen Marie Higgins, ed., Aesthetics in Perspective POLICIES: Late assignments will automatically receive ten fewer percentage points than they would otherwise have received. Late assignments will not be accepted more than one week after the date due. Late assignments will not be accepted after the last day of class. Makeup exams or extensions will be arranged only in situations of an emergency or serious illness. The instructor may ask for evidence. Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with ! #! Disabilities, 471-6259 GRADING AND IMPORTANT DATES: September 10 Short paper due 10% September 24 Exam I 20% October 17 Journal entries 1-6 due 10% November 7 Exam II 20% December 3 Journal entries 7-12 due 10% December 5 Final written project due 20% Participation (includes attendance, in-class writing, in-class quizzes, etc.) 10% NO FINAL EXAM SECTIONS: Unique #43015 Friday, 9:00-10:00 WAG 307 Unique #43016 Friday, 10:00-11:00 WAG 307 Unique # 43017 Friday, 11:00-12:00 WAG 307 ! $! SYLLABUS August 29 Introduction: What Is Art For? TRADITIONAL QUESTIONS ABOUT BEAUTY AND ART September 3 What Is Beauty and Why Do We Care about It? (Plato’s Account) Readings: Plato, “The Form of Beauty” and “Beauty’s Influence” (p. 11-23) To think about for class: Poet John Keats wrote “Beauty is truth/Truth beauty”? What do you think this means? September 5 Where Does (Good) Art Come From? Readings: Plato, “Inspiration as Magnetism” (pp. 278-281) To think about for class: Why do we value artistic originality (if we do)? September 10 How Does Art Relate to Reality? - J1 Readings: Plato, “Art and Appearance” (pp. 114-121) SHORT PAPER DUE September 12 Tragedy in Art: What Do We Like about It? – J2 Reading: Aristotle, “The Form of a Tragedy” (pp. 24-30) and Aristotle, “Constructing a Tragedy” (pp. 282-283) To think about for class: Why do we like to see tragic movies? ! %! September 17 On What Grounds Should We Criticize Art? – Contemporary Uses of Ancient Theories Reading: Mark Crispin Miller, “Advertising – End of Story” (pp. 350-358); Alexander Nehamas, “Plato and the Mass Media” (pp. 184-189) September 19 Review September 24 Exam I September 26 Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder? – J3 Reading: David Hume, “Of the Standard of Taste” (pp. 31- 43) To think about for class: Is War and Peace necessarily better than Harry Potter (any volume)? Why or why not? October 1 Can Anything at All Be Beautiful? (Kant’s Analysis of Aesthetic Experience) – J4, J5 Reading: Immanuel Kant, “The Four Moments” (pp. 44-48); Edward Bullough, “Psychical Distance” (pp. 164-167) To think about for class: Can you be wrong when you think something is beautiful? Can graffiti be beautiful? Why or why not? October 3 Is Appreciating Beauty a Common Human “Sense”? ! The Issue of Universality Reading: Immanuel Kant, “The Four Moments” (pp. 48-53) ! &! October 8 What is Most Important in Art: Form, Content, or Emotion? Readings: DeWitt H. Parker, “Aesthetic Form” (pp. 321- 325); Eduard Hanslick, “On the Musically Beautiful?” (pp. 329-330) To think about for class: Can instrumental music be beautiful? If so, how? If not, why not? October 10 How Does Kant’s Model Apply to Art? Where Do Artists’ Intentions Fit In? How Relative Is Human Beauty? Reading: Immanuel Kant, “The Nature of Genius” (pp. 284- 286) To think about for class: How much do Barbie dolls and touched-up images dictate our standard of beauty? October 15 What Does Art Reveal about the Temper of the Times? – J6 Reading: G. W. F. Hegel, “The Ages of Art (pp. 446-450) CONTEMPORARY ART October 17 Have We Reached the End of Art? Reading: John Berger, “Oil Painting” (pp. 464-466); Arthur Danto, “Approaching the End of Art” (pp. 454-460) JOURNAL ENTRIES 1-6 DUE October 22 Is Beauty the Ultimate Aim of Art? (The Sublime and Another Take on Tragedy) Reading: Friedrich Nietzsche, “On Beauty and Ugliness” and “Apollo and Dionysus” (pp. 54-62) ! '! October 24 What Makes It Art? - J7 Reading: Arthur Danto, “The Artworld” (pp. 68-74) To think about for class: Why do we (or at least most of us) care whether an artwork is a forgery? October 29 Does Anything Go? Reading: Timothy Binkley, “Piece – Contra Aesthetics” (pp. 88- 97); Leo Tolstoy, “What Is Art?” (pp. 362-364) To think about for class: Does someone’s saying that something is art make it art? Does it matter whether the person is an artist? October 31 Review ART, ETHICS, AND POLITICS November 5 Are We Being Taken In? (Modern Art, Public Art, and Art’s Social Function) – J8 Readings: Tom Wolfe, “The Worship of Art: Notes on the New God” (pp. 246-250); Karsten Harries, “The Ethical Significance of Modern Art” (pp. 195-204) To think about for class: What is your favorite piece of public art? What is your least favorite piece of public art? November 7 Exam II November 12 What Is Kitsch and What Kind of Bad Art Is It? – J9 Readings: Milan Kundera, “The Nature of Kitsch” (pp. 397- 398); Matei Calinescu, “Kitsch and Hedonism” (pp. 299- 403) ! (! November 14 Does Art Challenge or Reinforce Stereotypes? Or Both? – J10 Readings: Robert Gooding-Williams, “Look, A Negro!” (pp. 530-538) and Noël Carroll, “The Image of Women in Film” (pp. 567-574) To think about for class: What is an example of a film that reinforces stereotypes? Can you think of an example of a film that challenges stereotypes? AESTHETICS IN EVERYDAY LIFE AND JAPANESE AESTHETICS November 19 How Does Aesthetics Figure in Everyday Life? Readings: John Dewey, “Aesthetic Qualities” (pp. 611-616) To think about for class: When have you had an experience that was really “an experience” in Dewey’s sense? November 21 Magic Moments – How Do They Happen? (Japanese Aesthetics) – J11 Readings: Sei Shonagon, “The Pillow Book” (pp. 617-619) and Garret Sokoloff, “By Pausing before a Kicho” (pp. 620- 627) November 26 Does Cultural Difference Prove that It’s All Relative? (Japanese Aesthetics, continued) – J12 Readings: Donald Keene, “Japanese Aesthetics” (pp. 678- 687) and Yuriko Saito, “The Japanese Appreciation of Nature” (pp. 140-147) November 28 THANKSGIVING ! )! BACK TO AESTHETICS AND ETHICS December 3 Does Art Make Us Better People? Can It Make Us Worse? Reading: Anna Deveare Smith, “Introduction to Fires in the Mirror” (pp. 639-646) JOURNAL ENTRIES 7-12 DUE To think about for class: Do you think a bad moral outlook necessarily makes for bad art? December 5 Where Does Art Fit in Our Lives? Reading: Walter Pater, “A Quickened Sense of Life” (pp. 169-163) FINAL WRITTEN PROJECT DUE NO FINAL EXAM ! *! PHL 317K Introduction to Philosophy of the Arts Higgins Fall 2013 Short Writing Assignment: A Beautiful Artwork Due in Class, Thursday, September 10, 2013 For this assignment, you must go to the Blanton Museum of Art (use your UT ID cards to get free admission) and find an artwork that you consider beautiful. Then write one to two pages explaining what features of the work (or your experience of the work) justify your claim that this work is beautiful. Include a brief description of the artwork that is clear and complete enough that the rest of your comments make sense Consider the role that each of the following may play. Discuss only those points that are relevant to the work that you are considering. 1. Medium and making—What materials did the artist use in making this work of art? What specific techniques did the artist employ here? How was this artwork made? Was this medium or process of making new to the time period or to this artist, or was it a more traditional technique? Do you think that the medium and process of a making of a work can influence whether or not it is beautiful? 2. Artist—What facts about the artist are important for us to know in order to better understand this artwork? How old was the artist at the time of making this work? Is any knowledge about the artist important for determining how beautiful the work is? 3. Context—What events occurred in the world and/or the life of the artist when this work was made? Do any historical events that you know about have a bearing on the artwork? Think about the context surrounding the artist and the work in terms of historical events, technological developments, religious beliefs, scientific explorations, the work of other artists, etc. Are these considerations relevant to a work’s beauty? 4.