00345 - Aesthetics (M-Z)

Academic Year 2022/2023

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be able to critically analyse the basic theory, history, objects and methods pertaining to Aesthetics as a philosophical discipline, enbracing all the areas where it is currently applied (landscape, design, fashion, cinema, communications, etc.). By the end of the course students will be able to critically analyse the basic theory, history, objects and methods pertaining to Aesthetics as a philosophical discipline, enbracing all the areas where it is currently applied (landscape, design, fashion, cinema, communications, etc.).

Course contents

Introduction to aesthetics. Images of Greek culture: a dialogue between F. Nietzsche and W.F. Otto.

First part (6 cfu):

General introduction to aesthetics and its history. The Greek religious experience: Nietzsche's understanding of Apollonian and Dionysian.

The first parte aims at providing students with the main notions of the concept of aesthetics and of its history (among others, Baumgarten, Kant, Schiller and Schopenhauer will be discussed). Those notions will be relevant to better understand the themes discussed in the rest of the course.

Then the focus will be on the transformation of the classicistic image of Greece through an analysis of the Greek experience of the divine and in particular of the relationship between Dionysus and the other Olympic gods. We will study in depth Nietzsche’s “Birth of Tragedy”, in order to understand the way in which the philosopher, in the wake of Schopenhauer and Wagner, explains Greek tragedy and archaic Greece.  

Second part (6 cfu):

The dimension of theophany in W.F. Otto

The second part will take into consideration Walter Friedrich Otto’s view of Greek cult and of the figure of Dionysus, underlining the differences between his position and that of Nietzsche. We will discuss the manifestation of the divine through the differences that Walter Friedrich Otto traces between Greek polytheism and Christian monotheism. We will then analyze the role of the Muses (and of word and song) in the Greek theophany.Finally, Otto's assessment of the classical image of Greek culture (Goethe and Schiller in particular) and of the romantic tradition will be taken into consideration.

N.B. Those who have to give only the 6 cfu exam, must bring the program of the first part.

Readings/Bibliography

First part:

1) One of the following books:

- Paolo D'Angelo, Elio Franzini, Gabriele Scaramuzza, Estetica, Raffaello Cortina, Milano 2002;

- Federico Vercellone, Alessandro Bertinetto, Gianluca Garelli, Storia dell'estetica moderna e contemporanea, Il Mulino, Bologna 2003;

- Fabrizio Desideri, Chiara Cantelli, Storia dell'estetica occidentale, Carocci, Roma 2020.


2) Mandatory texts:

F. Nietzsche, La nascita della tragedia, a cura di V. Vivarelli, Einaudi, Torino 2009 (primi 10 capitoli);

F. Cattaneo, Macchie luminose nella notte. Sul ruolo dell'arte nel "Nascita della tragedia" a partire dal rovesciamento del platonismo, in «Estetica. Studi e ricerche» n. 1(2018), pp. 75-95;

 

Second part:

W.F. Otto, Le Muse e l'origine divina della parola e del canto, a cura di S. Mati, Fazi, Roma 2005 (pp. 25-46 e 85-106);

W.F. Otto, Teofania. Lo spirito della religione greca antica, a cura di G. Moretti, Adelphi, Milano 2021.

F. Cattaneo, La presenza degli dèi. Filosofia e mito in Friedrich Nietzsche e Walter F. Otto tra verità e bellezza, Orthotes, Salerno 2019.

The reading of Fabio Grigenti, Simone Aurora (edited by), Introduzione alla storia della filosofia. Dai Greci ai giorni nostri (Pearson, Milano 2022) is recommended.

Teaching methods

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

Assessment methods

It's important to bring all the texts for the final proof.

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

All the aforementioned texts (in the specified editions) are an essential tool in order to actively participate in the classes. It is recommended to get hold of the texts before classe because specific parts will be read and commented.

Some other texts will be distributed through the channels offered by the Unibo portal.


Office hours

See the website of Francesco Cattaneo