Aim of this course is to introduce some basic themes of an hermeneutical approach to aesthetics. Particular attention will be devoted to some qualifying philosophical interpretations of beauty.
Classical Texts:
- Plato, Greater Hippias
- Kant, Critic of Judgment (part I: Aesthetic Judgment)
- Hegel, Aesthetics or Philosophy of Fine Arts.
- A further collection of short texts will be indicated in class.
Learning Objectives
Acquisition of critical skills and knowledges about some main issues in the history of western philosophy and aesthetics.
Prerequisites
None.
Teaching Methods
Class lectures.
Further information
Title of the course: "Philosophical interpretations of beauty: between antiquity and modernity"
Type of Assessment
Oral examination.
The examination will preliminarly focus in the assessment of some basic competences about the history of western aesthetics (see Extended program, n. 2).
We will then examine the knowledge of the texts (see. Extended program, n. 1) in all their parts (i.e., not only referring to those explicitly discussed and commented in class), and the ability to use critical literature and one's own notes in reading and interpreting them.
An important role for a positive assessment will be played (in addition to knowledge and critical skills) by lexical competence, and the ability to link the different issues and to refer them to one's own educational training as well.
Course program
(1) Texts:
- PLATO, Greater Hippias (full text).
- KANT, Critique of Judgment: Introduction, Preface, and §§ 1-22.
- HEGEL, Lessons on Fine Arts (selected pages).
- A further collection of short texts (as introduced and discussed in class).
(2) For a general introduction:
- G. GARELLI, La questione della bellezza. Dialettica e storia di un'idea filosofica, Einaudi, Torino.