The course of Aesthetics is part of the program in Philosophy (BA level) and is included among the characterising training activities.
Upon completion of the course students are expected to acquire the basic knowledge of the vocabulary and of the fundamental problems of aesthetics. Furthermore The course also aims to provide participants with the acquisition of a method for reading texts of aesthetic concern.
Students will be able to apply the acquired knowledge to discuss and to develop arguments both in a theoretical and in a historical perspective.
Students are expected to acquire the following skills:
Critical thinking on History of aesthetics;
Language and argumentation skills about the topic of the course;
Basic capacity to read and analyse texts of aesthetic concern.
Upon completion of the course students are expected to acquire the basic knowledge of the vocabulary and of the fundamental problems of aesthetics. Furthermore The course also aims to provide participants with the acquisition of a method for reading texts of aesthetic concern.
Students will be able to apply the acquired knowledge to discuss and to develop arguments both in a theoretical and in a historical perspective.
Students are expected to acquire the following skills:
Critical thinking on History of aesthetics;
Language and argumentation skills about the topic of the course;
Basic capacity to read and analyse texts of aesthetic concern.
teacher profile teaching materials
The unit will be divided into three parts:
1) Introduction to the term aesthetics, as experience and as a philosophical discipline. Concerning the birth of the term: reading and commentary by Baumgarten, Aesthetica, Introduction.
2) Art and mimesis, from antiquity to the eighteenth century: (partial) reading and commentary of Plato, Republic X; Aristotle, Poetica; Batteux, Le belle arti
3) The beautiful: reading and commentary of Kant, Analitica del bello.
All the texts are collected in the anthology Estetica, edited by P. D'Angelo, E. Franzini, G. Scaramuzza Raffaello Cortina, Milan.
The second part will explore the concept of sublime.
It will then be articulated in the following way:
1) Reading and commentary of Kant, Analitica del Sublime.
2) Explanation of the interpretation of Lyotard, with reading and commentary of selected passages of the text in the program.
3) Explanation of the interpretation by Simone Weil concerning the beauty in Kant.
Aesthetics: A Comprehensive Anthology, ed. by S. Ross, S. M. Cahn, Wiley, 2020.
Programme
In the first unit, students will be given an introduction to the vocabulary and problems of aesthetics.The unit will be divided into three parts:
1) Introduction to the term aesthetics, as experience and as a philosophical discipline. Concerning the birth of the term: reading and commentary by Baumgarten, Aesthetica, Introduction.
2) Art and mimesis, from antiquity to the eighteenth century: (partial) reading and commentary of Plato, Republic X; Aristotle, Poetica; Batteux, Le belle arti
3) The beautiful: reading and commentary of Kant, Analitica del bello.
All the texts are collected in the anthology Estetica, edited by P. D'Angelo, E. Franzini, G. Scaramuzza Raffaello Cortina, Milan.
The second part will explore the concept of sublime.
It will then be articulated in the following way:
1) Reading and commentary of Kant, Analitica del Sublime.
2) Explanation of the interpretation of Lyotard, with reading and commentary of selected passages of the text in the program.
3) Explanation of the interpretation by Simone Weil concerning the beauty in Kant.
Core Documentation
For Erasmus students:Aesthetics: A Comprehensive Anthology, ed. by S. Ross, S. M. Cahn, Wiley, 2020.
Attendance
Attendance is not mandatory, but strongly recommended.Type of evaluation
The evaluation will be carried out by means of an oral test, during which students will be questioned the texts proposed in the syllabus.