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