Philosophy 280: Aesthetics, Schedule of Assignments, Hettinger, Fall 2007


1.         Aug 21: Introduction

Origins of Art

2.         Aug 23: Stephen Davies, The Philosophy of Art (hereafter “Davies”), Ch. 1: Evolution and Culture, pp. 1-25

What is Art?

3.         Aug 28: Elizabeth Telfer, “Food as art,” Arguing 9-27

4.         Aug 30: Davies, Ch. 2: Defining Art, pp. 26-51

Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature

5.         Sept 4: Rolston, “Evaluating Aesthetic Nature,” from Rolston’s Environmental Ethics (1987), available on library’s ereserves (course: Aesthetics; password: hettinger)

6.         Sept 6: Allen Carlson, “Appreciation and the natural environment” in Alex Neill and Aaron Ridley, Arguing About Art (hereafter “Arguing”), 155-166

7.         Sept 11: Noel Carroll, “On being moved by nature: between religion and natural history,” Arguing 167-186

What is Aesthetic Appreciation?

8.         Sept 13: Davies, Ch. 3: Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, pp. 52-80

9.         Sept 18: Same as above

Public art

10.       Sept 20: Two readings: (1) Various contributors, “Transcript of a hearing to decide the future of Tilted Arc,” Arguing 429-435 and (2) Gregg Horowitz, “Public art /public spaces: the spectacle of the Tilted Arc controversy,” Arguing 446-456

11.       Sept 25: Michael Kelly, “Public art controversy: The Serra and Lin cases,” Arguing 457-469

The Ontology of Artworks

12.       Sept 27: Davies, Ch. 4: Varieties of Art, pp. 81-108

Meaning, Intention, and Interpretation

13.       Oct 2: Davies, Ch 5: Interpretation, pp. 109-134

14.       Oct 4: Midterm exam

Emotion and Art

15.       Oct 9: Alex Neill, “Fiction and the emotions,” Arguing, 250-266

16.       Oct 11: Davies, Ch 6: Expression and Emotional Responses, pp. 135-166.

Fall Break

17.       Oct 18: Same as above

Rock Music and Culture

18.       Oct 23: Roger Scruton, “The decline of musical culture,” Arguing 119-134

19.       Oct 25: Theodore Gracyk, “Music’s worldly uses, or how I learned to stop worrying and to love Led Zeppelin,” Arguing 135-147

**Paper proposal due: Friday, Oct 26: 3pm, 14 Glebe Mailbox

 Representation and Art

20.       Oct 30: Davies, Ch. 7: Pictorial Representation and the Visual Arts

Environmental Art

21.       Nov 1: Allen Carlson, “Is Environmental Art An Aesthetic Affront to Nature?” Canadian Journal of Philosophy (1986) available on library’s ereserves (course: Aesthetics; password: hettinger)

22.       Nov 6: Animal Beauty

23.       Nov 8: To be determined

Value and Art

24.       Nov 13: Kendall Walton, “Morals in fiction and fictional morality,” Arguing 339-357

25.       Nov 15: Davies, Ch 8: The Value of Art, pp. 199-231

**Paper due: Friday, Nov 16, 3pm, 14 Glebe Mailbox

26.       Nov 20: Same as above

Thanksgiving

27.                   Nov 27: Ned Hettinger, “Objectivity in Environmental Aesthetics and Protection of the Environment,” available on library’s ereserves (course: Aesthetics; password: hettinger)

What Is Wrong with Being Sentimental?

28.       Nov 29: Anthony Saville, “Sentimentality,” Arguing 315-319         

Final exam: Thurs, Dec 6, 12-3