00345 - Aesthetics (A-L)

Academic Year 2018/2019

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student acquires the basic knowledge regarding the birth of aesthetics, its development and its multiple current tendencies. S/he also gets an idea of its connections with other disciplines, both the theoretical ones (such as poetics, hermeneutics and rhetorics) and those related to arts. The student’s use of the correct terminology and her/his ability in applying the main conceptual and methodological instruments put her/him in the position to critically understand the fundamental notions of aesthetics and to deal with the study of an aesthetical classic.

Course contents

General contents: "From Kant to Nietzsche: A criticism of teleology".
First part of the course (III. Period): "Kant's idea of beauty and finality" (Beginning of lessons: January 28, 2019).
Second part of the course (IV. Period): "The idea of truth and perspective in Nietzsche's Gay Science" (Beginning of lessons: March 18, 2019).
Timetable: 11-13 a.m., Monday Classroom III (via Zamboni 38); 1-3 p.m., Thursday Classroom III (via Zamboni 38); 1-3 p.m. Friday Classroom III (via Zamboni 38).

N.B. The students attending 6 CFU – Estetica (1) – are required to prepare the program of the first part of the course ("Kant's idea of beauty and finality").

Readings/Bibliography

First part of the course (III. Period): I. Kant, Critica della facoltà di giudizio, edited by E. Garroni and H. Hohenegger, Einaudi, Torino 1999 (other edition recommended: I. Kant, Critica del Giudizio, edited by M. Marassi, with german text, Bompiani, Milano 2004); choice of E. Cassirer, Vita e dottrina di Kant, Castelvecchi, Roma 2016; or: O. Höffe, Immanuel Kant, Il Mulino, Bologna 1986. The reading of F. Menegoni, La Critica del giudizio di Kant: introduzione alla lettura, Carocci, Roma 1995 is recommended.

Non-attending students are expected to add: F. Menegoni, La Critica del giudizio di Kant: introduzione alla lettura, Carocci, Roma 1995; F. Vercellone-A. Bertinetto-G. Garelli, Storia dell'estetica moderna e contemporanea, Il Mulino, Bologna 2003.

Second part of the course (IV. Period): F. Nietzsche, La gaia scienza, edited by C. Gentili, Einaudi, Torino 2015 (introduction and commentary are integral parts of the exam program); C. Gentili, Introduzione a Nietzsche, Il Mulino, Bologna 2017.

Teaching methods

The two parts of the course (6 CFU each) consist of 60 (aggregate) lessons. Lectures, conversations and discussions with students.

Assessment methods

The final proof will take place in the form of an oral examination. During the examination the teacher will assess whether the student has achieved or not some basic educational goals: knowledge of the texts and capacity to contextualize authors and works; comprehension of the fundamental concepts and capacity to provide a correct interpretation of them; clarity in the explanation of concepts and accuracy in the use of philosophical terminology; capacity to establish connections between the various authors and themes from both a historical and a strictly speaking conceptual point of view. During the oral examination the teacher will assess if the student possesses the abovementioned knowledge and skills in a (more or less) complete, precise and adequate way, or vice-versa in a (more or less) incomplete, vague and superficial way. The final grade will correspondently vary from excellent (30 and honors) to very good (30) to good (27-29) to fairly good (24-26) to more than enough (21-23) to merely enough (18-21) to unsatisfactory (<18).

Office hours

See the website of Carlo Gentili