Programme

The course will focus in particular on the multifaceted philosophical category of taste, first of all in eighteenth-century aesthetics (from Hume to Kant), to then consider its artistic interpretations and resonances in cinema, literature (e.g. futurism) and contemporary art, both Western and Eastern.

Core Documentation

- David Hume, La regola del gusto, in D. Hume, La regola del gusto e altri saggi, a cura di G. Preti, Abscondita, Milano 2006, pp. 11-33.
- Immanuel Kant: Riflessioni sul Gusto. Centro Internazionale Studi di Estetica, n. 436 e 485 (p. 28), n. 744 (p. 41), n. 747 (p. 42), n. 767 (p. 43), n. 868 (p. 55), n. 1512 (pp. 74-76).
- Immanuel Kant: Critica della facoltà di giudizio, a cura di Emilio. Garroni e Hansmichael Hohenegger, Torino, Einaudi, 1999, pp. 46-55, §6-9.
-Cucina Futurista, Manifesti teorici, menu e documenti, a cura di G. A. Pantasso, Abscondita 2015, pp. 11-27.

Attending students will have to choose only one article from the following four essays (all mandatory for non-attendants) in:

Dal gusto al disgusto. L'estetica del pasto di M. Mazzocut-Mis, Raffaello Cortina Editore, Milano, 2015:

- VINCENZI, Paola, La rivoluzione dei sensi, pp. 15-52.
- MAZZOCUT-MIS, Maddalena, A Tavola!... Nel Settecento, pp. 61-93.
- FELOJ, Serena, Dal gusto palatale alla morale. Il disgusto come sentimento, pp. 127-145.
- BERTOLINI, Michele, Lo spettatore alla prova del disgusto, pp. 181-201.


A text of your choice from the following:

- Donald Richie, Sull’estetica giapponese, Lindau, Torino 2009.
- Aldo Tollini, La cultura del tè in Giappone e la ricerca della perfezione, Einaudi, Torino 2014 (Introduzione, cap. 1, 2 e 6)

The following films will be shown in the classroom, followed by a debate (which is also compulsory for non-attendant students)

Il gusto degli altri, di Agnès Jaoui, Francia, 2000
Le ricette della signora Toku, di Naomi Kawase, Giappone, 2015
Tampopo, di Jūzō Itami, Giappone, 1985
Everyday is a good day, di Omori Tatsushi 2018
Vatel, di Roland Joffé, Francia/Gran Bretagna, Belgio, 2000
Il pranzo di Babette, di Gabriel Axel, Danimarca, 1987
Vita futurista, di Arnaldo Ginna, Italia, 1916
Morte di un maestro del tè, di Kei Kumai, Giappone, 1989
Eat, di Andy Warhol, USA, 1963
Julie & Julia, di Nora Ephron, USA, 2009
Big Night, di Stanley Tucci e Campbell Scott, USA, 1996
Lunchbox, di Ritesh Batra, India/Francia/Germania/USA/Canada, 2014

Reference Bibliography

The following texts are recommended for further study: E. Arielli, Farsi piacere. The construction of taste, Raffaello Cortina, Milan 2016. L. Ricca, Le vie della bellezza tra Occidente e Oriente. Paths of comparative aesthetics, Carocci. Rome, 2020; F. Iannelli, Beyond the western Ideal of Beauty. A Wabi sabi Aesthetics to survive the future. Ágalma: Rivista di studi culturali e di estetica 41, 2021.

Type of delivery of the course

In the case of an extension of the COVID-19 health emergency, all provisions governing the manner in which teaching activities and student assessment are carried out will be implemented. In particular, the following arrangements will apply: classes will be held on the Teams platform.

Type of evaluation

In the case of an extension of the COVID-19 health emergency, all the provisions regulating the modalities of carrying out teaching activities and student evaluation will be implemented. In particular, the following modalities will be applied: oral exams at a distance through the Microsoft Teams platform. During the oral exam will be evaluated - the level of knowledge of the conceptual contents of the texts examined during the course - the mastery in handling more specific information, for example the technical language used by Kant or the original terms used by D. Richie to analyze Japanese aesthetics or the tea ceremony - the critical capacity and ability to identify connections between different eras and cultures