Aesthetics
Ned Hettinger, Fall 2014

DuChamp_fountain

Duchamp's Urinal Tops Art Survey

Syllabus

Schedule of Assignments

Dates for critical question/comment
Dates for CQ last 3 classes

Paper Assignment and Some Possible Topics
Suggestions for Writing Your Philosophy Paper

Students - Evaluate your Courses & Faculty Online through Dec 10

Explanation of Final Quiz Score

 

Midterm Study Questions

Explanation of Midterm Quiz Score

Explanation of Midterm Exam Scores

Spring Philosophy Courses

Elements of Style
Amazon

Christo_Surround_Island
Date
Reading assignment
Class Notes
Miscellaneous

Final Exam
Thursday, Dec 4th, 8am, in classroom
**Final Exam Study Questions**

     
Nov 25:

AESTHETICS OF NATURE

Noel Carroll, “On Being Moved by Nature: Between Religion and Natural History,” Arguing, pp. 172-191

Carroll, On Being Moved by Nature
 
Nov 20

Allen Carlson, “Aesthetic Appreciation of the Natural Environment,” Arguing, pp. 157-171

Carlson on Nature Aesthetics
Paul Taylor, "Make it Funky: Or, Music's Cognitive Travels and the Despotism of Rhythm" at 3:15 on Thursday, November 20 in 235 Robert Scott Small.
(Free Quiz Opportunity)
Nov 18

Finish Davies, Ch 8: The Value of Art, pp. 199-231

Goldfish Blending Art? on class web page

Is Starving a Dog Art? Depends, Art Professor Say” on class webpage

Artist Leaves Dog To Die on Exhibition Display” (Snopes discussion)

Davies on Value of Art

 

Nov 13

VALUES AND ART

Davies, Ch 8: The Value of Art, pp. 199-231
V ideo: Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will    

AWG Meeting: Ayala Asherov, "Philosophy in Song?"
Fri, Nov 14, 14 Glebe. 3:15.
(Free Quiz Opportunity)
Nov 11

 

Kendall Walton, “Morals in Fiction and Fictional Morality

Walton on Morals in Fiction
**Paper due: Friday, Nov 7th, 1 pm, 14 Glebe (inside) mailbox (paper copy)**
 
Simon Blackburn, "Moral Knowledge for Sentimentalists"
Fri, Nov 7, 3:15 Alumni Center, 86 Wentworth (corner w/ St. Philip)
Nov 6:

ENVIRONMENTAL ART 

Glen Parsons, “Art in Nature” on class webpage

 Video: Andy Goldsworthy, “Rivers and Tides

Parsons on Env. Art
 
Nov 4: Fall Break (and election day) No class

 

 

 

 
Watermark (a film)
Wed, Nov 5, 7pm, Charleston Music Hall, Cost $5
(Free Quiz Opportunity)
Oct 30

REPRESENTATION AND ART

Davies, Ch. 7: Pictorial Representation and the Visual Arts, pp. 167-195

Davies on Representation
 
Oct 28

EMOTION AND ART

Davies, Ch 6 (again)

Davies on Expression and Emotion

What's a Good Major?

What College Graduates Regret (Humor)
Liberal Arts Grads Win Long-Term

Why Major in Philosophy?
Is Philosophy the Most Practical Major?
GRE scores by Major
Discussion of above

Oct 23

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

Oct 21

Berys Gaut, “The Paradox of Horror,” Arguing, pp. 317-329

Gaut on Horror
 

Friday, Oct 17: Paper proposal due
by email to hettingern@cofc.edu

Oct 16

Alex Neill, “Fiction and the Emotions,” Arguing, pp. 272-288

Neill on Fiction and Emotions

Neill table

Literature helps in mind-reading others (supermarket novels do not)

Paradox of Fiction (encyclopedia article)

"Who Cares How You Listen?"
Margaret Moore, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Friday, Oct 17, 4pm, 14 Glebe
(Free Quiz Opportunity)

 

Oct 14

MEANING, INTENTION, AND INTERPRETATION

Davies, Ch 5: Interpretation, pp. 109-134

Davies on Interpretation

Interpretation Table

Tues, Oct. 14: An Evening with David Finkel 7:00pm in the Sottile Theatre
Finkel is the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter and author of The Good Soldiers,The College Reads! Book for 2014-2015
(Free Quiz Opportunity)
gs

Oct 9

THE ONTOLOGY OF ARTWORKS

Same as below (Davies, Ch. 4)

Davies on Ontology of Art (Ch 4)

"Two Concepts of Improvisation or What to Do with a Broken String"
Lydia Goehr, Thurs, Oct 9, 4:15, Robert Scott Small, Room 235
(Free Quiz Opportunity)

Goehr

Aesthetics Work Group meeting with Goehr, Friday, Oct 10, 4pm, 14 Glebe (location may change)
(Free Quiz Opportunity)

Oct 7

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

Davies on Ontology of Art (Ch 4)
 

**Thurs, Oct 2: MIDTERM EXAM**
Midterm Study Questions

 

Women in Philosophy Meeting about "MadMen"
Monday Oct 6 5pm 14 Glebe

Sept 30

ROCK VERSUS CLASSICAL MUSIC

Stephen Davies, “Rock versus Classical Music

Davies on Rock vs Classical

Articles on Rock Music for papers

Rock and Classical Music Lovers Have Similar Psychological Profiles

Mixing classical and rock: Lindsey Stirling

Sept 25

Bruce Baugh, “Prolegomena to Any Aesthetics of Rock Music

Baugh on Aesthetics of Rock Music

Banned Book Week at CofC
(September 21−27)
Sept 23

Roger Scruton, “The Decline of Musical Culture,” Arguing, pp. 121-136

Scruton on Decline of Musical Culture

Good website for information about music

Sept 18

WHAT IS AESTHETIC APPRECIATION?

Finish reading Davies, Ch. 3: Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, pp. 52-80

Davies, Ch 3

"How To Be An Optimist About Aesthetic Testimony
Rachel McKinnon, Thursday, Sept 18, 4pm, 14 Glebe lounge
(Free quiz opportunity)

Moral Rights and Works of Art, or Its My Monet So Why Can't I Paint Over It?
Honors College Lecture Series - Jonathan Neufeld
Friday, Sept 19, 3pm, Maybank 100
(Free quiz opportunity)

About Fun Home author/artist and MacArthur fellow Allison Betchdel

Sept 16

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

 

Sept 11

PUBLIC ART AND CENSORSHIP

Peter Levine, “Lessons from the Brooklyn Museum Controversy

Quebec Special Effects Artist Not guilty of Corrupting Morals

Levine on Public Deliberation about Art and Censorship

Constitution Day Today

Censorship of CofC's Fun Home selection?

Sept 9

 

Michael Kelly, “Public Art controversy: The Serra and Lin cases,” Arguing, pp. 427-439      

Kelly on Serra's TA and Lin's VVM

Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (video)

Maya Lin Studio

Maya Lin: What is Missing?

Maya Lin on youtube

Sept 4.:

“Transcript of a Hearing to Decide the Future of Tilted Arc,” Arguing, pp. 399-405

 Gregg Horowitz, “Public Art /Public Spaces: Spectacle of the Tilted Arc Controversy,” Arguing, 416-426

 

Tilted Arc Hearings

Horowitz on Tilted Arc

Dave Barry, “Does Public Art Make Sense?” (humor)

Public Art comic

Carroll, Can Government Funding of Art Be Justified?

Sept 2:

WHAT IS ART?

Is it Art or Just a Toilet Seat?” on class webpage

Table of Art Definitions

Scruton, Why Beauty Matters

Oversight of Art Market Needed?

Willem deKooning

Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock video

Aug 28:
Davies, Ch. 2: Defining Art, pp. 26-51
Davies on Defining Art

Duchamp's In Advance of a Broken Arm (1915)

Emin's My Bed (1999)

$1.1 million sculpture damaged by cleaning woman in German museum

Angela Ellesworth's Actual Odor

Aug 26:
Elizabeth Telfer, “Food as Art,” Arguing About Art (hereafter “Arguing”), pp. 11-29
Telfer, Food as Art

How Food Replaced Art As High Culture

Bower Bird

Aug 21:

ORIGINS OF ART

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

Davies, Ch 1

PBS "Flashpoints"
(on controversial art, excellent site)

Tortoises with iPads in Aspen Museum

About Stephen Davies

Should museums return stolen artworks?
Greece Urges Return of Sculptures

The Fine Art of Returning Art

 

       
       
       
       
       
       
       
   
 
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
     
Can a printer play music?
       
     
On Arthur Danto (art critic and philosopher): "Non-Art for Non-Art's Sake"
       
      College of Charleston Prof. Herb Parker's Nature-Based Installation
       
       
       
     

Pollen as art

Video

      Political art: Faces on potholes
      Will a lawsuit prevent Land artist Christo from draping the Arkansas river?
      Maya Lin's What is Missing?
      China starts televising the sunrise on giant TV screens because Beijing is so clouded in smog
       
     
       
     

Thinking about College

A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop

What College Graduates Regret (Humor)

Liberal Arts Grads Win Long-Term

Why Major in Philosophy?

Is Philosophy the Most Practical Major?

       
      bad_art
      Museum of Bad Art
      Does exposure to art make us like it more? Not for "bad art."
       
     

 

      Goya, Saturn Devouring His Son