62084 - Aesthetics A

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

Part I Kant and Modern Aesthetics

After an introduction to the history and notion of aesthetics, the first part is dedicated to the analysis and commentary of the Critique of Judgment. The understanding of Kant's vocabulary and conceptuality will be supported by a constant comparison with the aesthetic theories preceding and contemporary to Kant, in such a way as to keep together the critical comparison with the classic reference and the introductory character of the whole module, useful to instruct students of all curricular backgrounds on the vocabulary and conceptuality of modern aesthetics.

 

Part II 

Hegel's Aesthetics: Art, Appearance, Historicity

The second part will be devoted to the reading and commentary of the scheduled sources on Hegel's Aesthetics. Starting from the themes of Hegel's introduction to the Aesthetics, which confronts Kant and Schiller, the module will firstly deal with the transition to the historicization of aesthetics; secondly, deepening the problem of the plurality of sources we have at our disposal for Hegel's aesthetics as a classic of the discipline, the last part aims at constituting a first introduction to the more general problem of how to organize a critical confrontation with philosophical texts.

Readings/Bibliography

Modulo I

1) I. Kant, Critica del Giudizio, trad. di A. Gargiulo rivista da V. Verra, introduzione di P. D’Angelo, Laterza, Bari 1997 (e successive ristampe).

2) A. Bertinetto, G. Garelli, F. Vercellone, Lineamenti di storia dell’estetica. La filosofia dell’arte da Kant al XXI secolo.

Suggested reading:

- O. Höffe, Immanuel Kant, tr. it. di S. Carboncini, Il Mulino, Bologna 1986 (mandatory reading for non-attending students).

- F. Menegoni, La Critica del giudizio di Kant: introduzione alla lettura, Carocci, Roma 1995.

 

 

Modulo II

1) G.W.F. Hegel, Estetica, trad. di N. Merker e G. Vaccaro, introduzione di S. Givone, Einaudi, Torino 1997 , pp. 5-104.

2) G.W.F. Hegel, Lezioni di estetica, trad. e introduzione di P. D’Angelo, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2000 .

Suggested reading (mandatory reading for non-attending students):

L’estetica di Hegel, a cura di M. Farina e A.L. Siani, Il Mulino, Bologna 2015.

Teaching methods

The course will consist of frontal lessons; sources will be commented and discussed and the problems and their historical context synthetically reconstructed. 

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).

Teaching tools

 Sources commented during classroom will be provided via IOL.

Office hours

See the website of Eleonora Caramelli