Art and Aesthetics

Catalog description

This course examines the nature of art and the character of our aesthetic experiences. It deals with such issues as: the concept of beauty; the role of art in society; censorship, propaganda, and advertising; imagination; taste; art as imitation, representation, or expression; the relation of art to knowledge, freedom, or truth; symbol and metaphor; emotional responses to art; artistic process and creative expression; aesthetic experiences outside of artistic ones. We engage with a wide variety of historical and contemporary philosophical texts as well as artworks and other aesthetic experiences.