PHIL 212/332 - Philosophy of the Arts

 

Semester One 2017

15 points

Lecturer         Stephen Davies

Room 457, Art 1, Building 206, 14a Symonds Street
sj.davies@auckland.ac.nz, 3737599 xt 87615,

Lecture           Room 209, Arts 1, Building 206

Timetable       Monday 10-12 noon

Timetable       Wednesday 1-3pm

Tutorials         Tuesday 10-11 (Architecture Lecture Room 6/421W-501); Tuesday 4-5 (Commerce A building/114-G10)

Feel free to go to either tutorial. If you can't make it to the one assigned for you, enrol in it anyway but go to the other one.

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES:

 

This course considers questions such as: Is art purely cultural or partly biological? Is art old or an invention of eighteenth-century Europe? What definitions are plausible and if none are, how does the concept cohere? How does the philosophy of art differ from aesthetics as traditionally conceived? In what manner do artworks exist? Are they created or discovered? What constraints are there on the interpretation of art? Do artistic evaluations always contain a personal element? How does an abstract art form express emotion? Why are we moved by the fate of characters we know to be fictional? Why are we drawn to tragedies when we know the experience of them in unpleasant? How do paintings represent what they picture? How do art paintings differ from drawn advertisements and photographs? Can we learn from art truths about the actual world? Are ethical faults in art also artistic demerits?

 

At the end of the course you should have an appreciation of the representative theories and arguments presented by philosophers who have addressed these questions. You should be able to explain these theories and arguments in your own words and in a way that shows good familiarity with the prescribed readings.

 

 

 

TEACHING FORMAT AND EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS:

 

The course is taught through lectures and tutorials. Tutorials are one hour per week, starting in the second week of the semester. Students are expected to attend both regularly.

 

You are welcome to consult your lecturer about any questions you may have about course material or organisation. Lecturers have walk in hours each week during which they are available for consultation without appointment. It is also possible to make an appointment for another time should you need to do so.

 

WEBPAGES:

 

The course webpages are

http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/philos/course-pages/Phi212.htm

http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/philos/course-pages/Phi332.htm

 

To see artwork images for this course, log in to the Art History Image Database at http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/databases/record/?recid=15&record=ahid&view

mode=browse&alpha=A&search_term=&sndx=&facet_id=&subject_id=&browse_subject_id=

And select CONNECT

 

 

TEXTBOOK:

 

Stephen DAVIES. The Philosophy of Art. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016. Second edition. ISBN: 978-1-119-09165-3.

 

Recommended (especially for students who have not previously taken any courses in Philosophy):

 

Theodore Gracyk, The Philosophy of Art: An Introduction, (Cambridge: Polity, 2012);

 

Robert Stecker, Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art: An Introduction, (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010, second edition).

 

 

READINGS:

See CANVAS. Please familiarise yourself with the specified readings and come to lectures and tutorials prepared to discuss them.

 

 

 

LIBRARY RESOURCES:

 

There are a number of useful reference sources on aesthetics and the philosophy of art:

GL = General Library; FA = Fine Arts Library

 

Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics. J. Levinson (ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. GL 111.85 L66o

 

Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, Michael Kelly (ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. 2^nd edition, 7 Vols. E-book accessed via Library

 

Routledge Companion to Aesthetics. Berys Gaut & Dominic McIver Lopez (eds). London: Routledge, 2001. GL 111.85 G27

(Second edition, 2004. Third edition 2013.)

 

A Companion to Aesthetics. Stephen Davies, Kathleen Marie Higgins, Robert Hopkins, Robert Stecker, & David E. Cooper (eds). Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Second edition. GL 111.85 C73 2009

 

Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art: The Analytic Tradition, P. Lamarque & S. H. Olsen (eds.), Oxford: Blackwell, 2003. FA 701.17 A254p

 

Contemporary Debates in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art. M. Kieran (ed.), Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. GL 111.85 K47c & SLC

 

Blackwell Guide to Aesthetics. P. Kivy (ed.), Oxford: Blackwell, 2003. GL 111.85 K62b

 

Blackwell Companion to Aesthetics, David Cooper (ed). Oxford: Blackwell, 1992. GL Reference 111.85 C73

 

The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Donald M. Borchert (ed.), (London: Macmillan & Free Press, 2006. 10 Vols). GL Reference 103 E26 2006

 

Aesthetics: Critical Concepts in Philosophy, James O. Young (ed.) (London: Routledge, 4 Vols, 2005). GL 111.85 Y68

 

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at http://plato.stanford.edu/

 

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward Craig (Editor-in-Chief). London: Routledge, 1998. 10 Vols. GL Reference 100 C88 Also available as e-resource

http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/databases/learn_database/public.asp?record=routledge

 

British Journal of Aesthetics - GL 111.85 B86; FA SERIALS

Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism - FA SERIALS

Philosophy and Literature - GL 809 P56

 

LECTURE ARCHIVE

 

The Aesthetics Research Group at the University of Kent has a public archive of recorded lectures in aesthetics:

https://www.kent.ac.uk/arts/research/centres/aestheticsresearchgroup/materialsarchive.html

The archive includes audio and video recordings of research talks given by Noël Carroll, Howard Caygill, Gregory Currie, David Davies, Susan Dwyer, Jonathan Friday, Andrew Kania, Jerrold Levinson, Patrick Maynard, Aaron Meskin, Alex Neill, Kathleen Stock, Cain Todd, Rob van Gerwen, Scott Walden, Kendall Walton, Tom Wartenberg.

Jerrold Levinson’s entire lecture series on “Key Concepts in Aesthetics” is also available in audioformat.

 

 

COURSE CONTENT

1 Lecture: March 6

Art: a matter of biology or culture alone?

Textbook Chapter One.

 

2 Lecture: March 13

Defining art

Textbook Chapter Two.

 

Tutorials: March 14

Art: Biology or culture?

Readings:

DISSANAYAKE, Ellen 1988. What Is Art For? (Seattle: University of Washington Press), excerpt pp. 74-106. ISBN: 0295966122. Focus on pp. 92-106.

SHINER, Larry 2001. The Invention of Art: A Cultural History, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), excerpt pp. 79-129. ISBN: 0226753425. Focus on pp. 79-110.

 

3 Lecture: March 20

Traditional aesthetics versus the philosophy of art

Textbook Chapter Three.

Tutorials: March 21

Defining art.

Readings:

BEARDSLEY, Monroe C. 2004. "An Aesthetic Definition of Art", in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Arty - the Analytic Tradition, P. Lamarque & S. H. Olsen (eds.), (Malden, Blackwell), 55-62. ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-0582-8. Originally in What Is Art? H. Curtler (ed.) (New York: Haven, 1983), 15-29. ASIN: B000NXGWPG

DICKIE, George 1983. "The New Institutional Theory of Art", Proceedings of the 8th International Wittgenstein Symposium, 10, 1983, pp. 57-64. ISBN: 3209005478

 

4 Lecture: March 27

Traditional aesthetics versus the philosophy of art

Textbook Chapter Three.

Tutorials: March 28

Traditional aesthetics versus the philosophy of art.

Readings:

STOLNITZ, Jerome 1969. "The Aesthetic Attitude", in Introductory Readings in Aesthetics, J. Hospers (ed.), (New York: The Free Press), pp. 17-27. ISBN: 0029152607 (Originally in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art Criticism, 1960)

DICKIE, George 1964. "The Myth of the Aesthetic Attitude", American Philosophical Quarterly, 1, pp. 56-65. ISSN:    0003-0481

 

5 Lecture: April 3

Traditional aesthetics versus the philosophy of art

Textbook Chapter Three.

Tutorials: April 4

Case-study: forgery.

Readings:

WALTON, Kendall L. 1970. "Categories of Art", Philosophical Review, 79, pp. 334-67. ISSN: 0031-8108

LESSING, Alfred 1965. "What Is Wrong with a Forgery?" Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 23, 461-71. ISSN: 0021 8529

 

6 Lecture: April 10

Varieties of art

Textbook Chapter Four.

 

 

Tutorials: April 11

Case-study: rock versus classical music.

Readings:

BAUGH, Bruce 1993. "Prolegomena to Any Aesthetics of Rock Music", Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 51, pp. 23-9. ISSN: 0021 8529

DAVIES, Stephen 1999. "Rock versus Classical Music", Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 57, pp. 193-204. ISSN: 0021 8529

MID-SEMESTER BREAK

 

7 Lecture: May 1

Interpretation

Textbook Chapter Five.

 

Tutorials: May 2

Varieties of art.

Readings:

GRACYK, Theodore A. 1996. Rhythm and Noise: An Aesthetics of Rock Music, (Durham, NC: Duke University Press), excerpt pp. 1-36. ISBN: 0822317435

CARROLL, Noël 1997. "The Ontology of Mass Art", Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 55, pp. 187-99. ISSN: 0021 8529

 

8 Lecture: May 8

Expression and emotional responses

Textbook Chapter Six.

 

 

Tutorials: May 9

Interpretation.

Readings:

WIMSATT, William K. Jnr & BEARDSLEY, Monroe C. 1970. "The Intentional Fallacy", in Problems in Aesthetics, M. Weitz (ed.) (New York: Macmillan, 2nd edition), pp. 347-60. Lib. Congress 74-85775 (Originally published in Sewanee Review, 54 (1946).)

STECKER, R. 2003. Interpretation and Construction: Art, Speech, and the Law, (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing), excerpt pp. 52-71. ISBN: 1405101741

 

9 Lecture: May 15

Expression and emotional responses

Textbook Chapter Six.

 

Tutorials: May 16

Expression and emotional responses.

Readings:

WALTON, Kendall 1978. "Fearing Fictions", Journal of Philosophy, 75, pp. 5-27. ISSN: 0022-362X

NEILL, Alex 1993. "Fiction and the Emotions", American Philosophical Quarterly, 30, pp. 1-13. ISSN:     0003-0481

10 Lecture: May 22

Pictorial representation

Textbook Chapter Seven.

 

Tutorials: May 23

Expression and emotional responses.

Readings:

LEVINSON, Jerrold 1996. "Musical Expressiveness", in The Pleasures of Aesthetics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press), pp. 90-125. ISBN: 0801482267

 

11 Lecture: May 29

Art and Value, Morality, and Feminism

Textbook Chapter Eight.

 

Tutorials: May 30

Pictorial representation.

Readings:

WOLLHEIM, Richard 1980. "Seeing-As, Seeing-In and Pictorial Representation," in Art and its Objects (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, second edition), 205-226. ISBN: 0521437784

LOPES, Dominic McIver 1996. Understanding Pictures (Oxford: Clarendon Press) 15-36. ISBN: 019824097X

 

12 Lecture: June 5 No lecture

 

Tutorials: June 6

Summary, revision, and exam discussion

Art and Value, Morality, and Feminism.

Readings:

WALTON, Kendall L. 1994. "Morals in Fiction and Fictional Morality", Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supp. Vol. 68, pp. 27-50. ISSN: 0066-7374

DEVEREAUX, Mary 1998. "Beauty and Evil: The Case of Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will", in Aesthetics and Ethics, J. Levinson (ed.), (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,), pp. 227-56. ISBN: 0-521-78805-6

 

 

 

ASSESSMENT:

 

Your overall mark consists of 50% final 3-hour examination and 50% coursework. The coursework consists of a 3,000 word essay. You may do two essays, with the best counting as your coursework. S You are required to submit a copy of your essay via CANVAS. (This is checked for plagiarism.)

 

Exam

The exam is of three hours and involves essay style answers.

 

Essay

The essay subjects are presented as topics, not as specific questions. You are required to focus on the readings assigned for the topic. You should identify what is at issue and why it is important, characterise the various positions taken in or referred to by the readings, and analyse and evaluate the arguments offered. Because most of the readings present opposed points of view, it will not be sufficient simply to outline what each author claims. You should evaluate which of the conflicting positions is better supported and give your reasons for judging this. In general, the structure of the debate is made clearer by identifying the key issues and by reviewing what the authors say about each issue before moving on to the next. Summarising first one article, then the next, is not usually the best way of illustrating the debate in which the authors are engaged.

 

You should read the Philosophy booklet, Essays in Philosophy (which is available via CANVAS), for information about presentation of essays and penalties for late submission. It also gives advice about preparing your essays. One of the tutorial topics is devoted to the topic of the essay.

 

 

Policy on essay extensions

To hand in a late essay without penalty, you need an extension from the course supervisor. Usually, extensions are given only on medical grounds. You may hand in a late essay without an extension. If it is less than one week late, the penalty is 5%; if it is more than one week and less than two weeks late, the penalty is 10%. Essays that are more than two weeks late receive 0.

 

 

PHIL 332 ESSAY TOPICS

 

For appropriate styles of referencing, see http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/services/referencing

 

The essay is worth 50% of your overall grade. Essays are of 3,000 words. You have the option of writing on the first topic, the second topic, or both topics.

 

Your coursework mark will be the grade of your best essay.

 

In your essay you should discuss all the readings listed for your chosen topic. Identify the disputed issues, outline the key arguments, and criticise and evaluate the arguments. (A file on how to write essays in philosophy is in CANVAS.)

 

The readings listed below are available via CANVAS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHIL 332 TOPIC ONE

 

Due Friday April 7 at 3 pm. Hand essays in at Arts 1 Reception and submit an electronic copy via CANVAS.

 

1) Can the everyday be a source of aesthetic experience?

 

IRVIN, Sherri 2008. "The Pervasiveness of the Aesthetic in Ordinary Experience," British Journal of Aesthetics, 48, 29-44.

IRVIN, Sherri 2008. "Scratching and Itch," Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 66, 25-35.

 

SOUCEK, Brian 2009. "Resisting the Itch to Redefine Aesthetics: A Response to Sherri Irvin," Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 67, 223-226.

IRVIN, Sherri 2009. "Aesthetics and the Private Realm," Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 67, 226-230.

 

 

2) Critically discuss Levinson's definition of art and the objections it faces.

 

LEVINSON, Jerrold 2002. "The Irreducible Historicality of the Concept of Art", British Journal of Aesthetics, 42, 367-379. ISSN: 0007-0904

 

STECKER, Robert 2000. "Is it Reasonable to Attempt to Define Art?" in Theories of Art Today, N. Carroll (ed.), (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press), pp. 45-64. ISBN: 0299163547

 

STOCK, Kathleen 2003. "Historical Definitions of Art", in Art and Essence, S. Davies & A. Sukla (eds.), (Westport, CT: Praeger), pp. 159-76. ISBN: 0-275-97766-8

 

 

3) Do the different roles of recordings in rock and jazz suggest they belong to distinct ontological types?

 

FISHER, John Andrew 1998. "Rock ’n’ Recording: The Ontological Complexity of Rock Music", Musical Worlds: New Directions in the Philosophy of Music. P. Alperson (ed.), (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press), 109-23. ISBN: 0-271-01769-4

 

BROWN, Lee B. 2000. "Phonography, Repetition and Spontaneity", Philosophy and Literature 24, 111-25. ISSN: 0190-0013

 

 

 

PHIL 332 TOPIC TWO

 

Due Friday May 19th at 3 pm. Hand essays in at Arts 1 Reception and submit an electronic copy via CANVAS.

 

 

1) Is the interpretation of literature constrained by the actual author's intentions, or can we hypothesize meanings that an author like the actual one might have had, or is neither view convincing?

 

CARROLL, Noël 2000. "Interpretation and Intention: the Debate between Hypothetical and Actual Intentionalists", Metaphilosophy 31, pp. 75-95. ISSN: 0026-1068

 

LEVINSON, Jerrold 2002. "Hypothetical Intentionalism: Statement, Objections, and Replies", in M. Krausz (ed.), Is There a Single Right Interpretation? (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press), 309-318. ISBN: 0-271-02175-6

 

 

 

2) If people were frightened by horror films, why would they watch them?

 

CARROLL, Noël 1990. The Philosophy of Horror or Paradoxes of the Heart, (New York: Routledge), excerpt pp. 178-95. ISBN: 0415902169

 

GAUT, Berys 1993. "The Paradox of Horror", British Journal of Aesthetics, 33, pp. 333-45. ISSN: 0007-0904

 

CARROLL, Noël 1995. "Enjoying Horror Fictions: A Reply to Gaut", British Journal of Aesthetics, 35, pp. 67-72. ISSN: 0007-0904

 

GAUT, Berys 1995. "The Enjoyment Theory of Horror: A Response to Carroll", British Journal of Aesthetics, 35, pp. 284-89. ISSN: 0007-0904

 

 

3) What form should a feminist film criticism take?

 

CARROLL, Noël 1990. "The Image of Women in Film: A Defense of a Paradigm", Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 48 (1990): 349-60. ISSN: 0021 8529
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/stable/431572

 

FREELAND, Cynthia A. 1996. "Feminist Frameworks for Horror Films', in Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies, eds. David Bordwell & Noël Carroll (Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1996), 195-218. ISBN 0299149447