06488 - History of Aesthetics

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students are able to know the main areas of aesthetic historiography, in relation to different orientations, first of all as regards aesthetics in modern and contemporary age, considering also the development of philosophical reflection on art from classical antiquity up to the Enlightenment. They must have acquired the basic knowledge related to the history of aesthetics understood as the philosophy of art and be able to recognize the aesthetic value of poetics and critical reflections that have been developed since antiquity. They must also know how to use survey methods that will enable them to analyze, according to a philosophical interpretation key, the complexity of the relationships involved in the definition of the aesthetic object and artistic object.

Course contents

Title of the course: American Aesthetics between Perception and Language

The course will address some of the cornerstones of American aesthetics between the end of the 19th century and the 21st century.

Points of departure will be, on the one hand, Deweyan aesthetics prior to the publication of Art as Experience, i.e., the work with which John Dewey’s aesthetic theory is traditionally associated, and on the other hand, Susanne Langer’s aesthetic reflection as it was developed particularly in the 1950s, i.e., the years in which analytic philosophy of art was first emerging. Moving from these two perspectives, the course will then deal with later stages in the development of American aesthetics that can be traced back on the one hand to the contributions of analytic philosophers such as Arthur Coleman Danto and Nelson Goodman, in which the relationship between the perceptual and the linguistic is set in favor of the latter, and on the other hand, to the recovery of the pragmatist experiential perspective carried out at least by Arnold Berleant and Richard Shusterman.

As part of the course there will be a workshop activity, organized in collaboration with the almæsthetics [https://centri.unibo.it/almaesthetics/it] research center. It will be based on specific analyses of some of the texts included in the syllabus, which will be carried out with the active participation of attending students. The modalities for conducting this activity will be illustrated at the beginning of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

- J. Dewey, “Il concetto di arco riflesso in psicologia”, “Una teoria naturalistica della percezione sensoriale”, “Pensiero affettivo”, “Pensiero qualitativo”, in G.L. Iannilli (a cura di), Il senso delle qualità. Saggi sulla percezione, Mimesis, Milano-Udine, 2024.

- S.K. Langer, “Espressività”, “Creazione”, “Forma vivente”, “Il simbolo artistico e il simbolo in arte”, “La creazione poetica” in G. Matteucci (a cura di), Problemi dell’arte. Dieci conferenze filosofiche, Aesthetica Edizioni, Milano 2022, pp. 43-75, pp. 123-34, pp. 135-49.

- A.C. Danto, “Contenuto e causazione” e “Metafora, espressione e stile”, in La trasfigurazione del banale, Laterza, Roma, 2021, pp. 41-65 and 201-54

- N. Goodman, “Quando è arte?”, in Vedere e costruire il mondo, Laterza, Roma, 2008, pp. 85-102.

- A. Berleant, “Le teorie surrogatorie dell’arte” e “Il campo estetico”, in Il campo estetico. Fenomenologia dell’esperienza estetica, Mimesis, Milano-Udine, 2020, pp. 57-84 and pp. 85-128.

- R. Shusterman, “La fine dell’esperienza estetica”, in Esperienza estetica e arti popolari. Prospettive somaestetiche sulla teoria e la pratica, Mimesis, Milano-Udine, 2023, pp. 25-55.

Further reading for non-attending students:

- G. Matteucci, Il sensibile rimosso. Itinerari di estetica sulla scena americana, Mimesis, Milano-Udine, 2015.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures, seminars, and classroom presentations by students.

During the academic year, seminar series and other events organized by the Department of Philosophy will take place. They will be indicated by the teacher during the class.

Assessment methods

The exam may be taken in one of the following ways:

1) Written paper (the topic must be agreed upon in advance with the teacher):

15-page paper (about 45.000 characters, footnotes and bibliography included) on a transversal theme addressed in the texts indicated in the bibliography.

n.b.:

- The paper must be sent in pdf format to the teacher at least 10 days before the exam (registration is required on Almaesami).

2) Oral examination:

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the material in the exam bibliography and his/her ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.

Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he/she displays significant errors in his/her understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

 

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders are entitled to special adjustments according to their condition, subject to assessment by the University Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact teachers or Department staff, but make an appointment with the Service. The Service will then determine what adjustments are specifically appropriate, and get in touch with the teacher. For more information, please visit the page:
https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Teaching tools

Powerpoints

Office hours

See the website of Gioia Laura Iannilli