27992 - Contemporary Aesthetics

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has a sufficient critical awareness of some of there main aesthetic traditions of the last century. He/she also acquires the conceptual and methodological tools enabling him/her to analyze the key issues that are central to the contemporary aesthetic debate, according to a mainly theoretical and problematic approach.

Course contents

Title: The aesthetic from perception to expression: a critical dialogue with Merleau-Ponty.

The new paradigms provided by the theory of mind suggest today to remodel the notion of aesthetic experience starting from a reconsideration of the traditional conceptions of perception and expression. Merleau-Ponty's thought is often seen as a turning point in the passage. The course aims to examine this phenomenological reflection by comparing it with some current outcomes that also derive from cognitive sciences and studies on evolutionism and that can contribute to shedding new light on the particularity of the aesthetic dimension.

Beginning: November, 12th, 2019.

Timetable: second period (first semester) - Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9 to 11.

Classroom: via Zamboni 38 - Room "Tibiletti".

Readings/Bibliography

1) M. Merleau-Ponty, Fenomenologia della percezione, trad. it., Il Saggiatore, Milano 1980, pp. 95-110 (Il campo fenomenico), 244-274 (Il corpo come espressione e la parola) and 283-325 (Il sentire).

2) M. Merleau-Ponty, Il linguaggio indiretto e le voci del silenzio, in Id., Segni, trad. it., Il Saggiatore, Milano 2003, pp. 63-116.

3) M. Merleau-Ponty, La prosa del mondo, nuova ed. it., Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2019 (for those who read the text in Italian: use only this edition).

4) G. Matteucci, Estetica e natura umana. La mente estesa tra percezione, emozione ed espressione, Carocci, Roma 2019.

 

For non-attending students is recommended:

- L. Vanzago, Metamorfosi. La questione dell'espressione nella filosofia di Merleau-Ponty, “Lebenswelt”, 9 (2016), pp. 31-47 (https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/Lebenswelt/article/view/7961).

 

General orientation on Merleau-Ponty's philosophy:

- R. Kirchmayr, Merleau-Ponty. Una sintesi, Christian Marinotti Edizioni, Milano 2008.

- L. Vanzago, Merleau-Ponty, Carocci, Roma 2012.

 

N.B.: The bibliography may change until the beginning of the course.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures and classroom presentations by students.

Assessment methods

The final exam will be an oral one, with questions aimed to verify the student's knowledge of the themes discussed during the course (only for attending students) as well as those addressed in the texts listed in the bibliography. Attending students may, alternatively, present a written work whose topic has been agreed with the teacher.

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the material in the exam bibliography and his/her ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.

Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he/she displays significant errors in his/her understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

We will use power point slides concerning course's texts and topics.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Matteucci