This series of workshops is designed to introduce students to current debates in aesthetics, art, and culture from a Western perspective. The workshops will explore fundamental questions such as: What constitutes artistic thinking? What is taste? How do we judge beauty? Is there truth in art? Is art authentic? What do still-life paintings truly represent? Is the meaning of art always apparent? What is artistic imagination? Does the unconscious influence artistic creation? Can art be considered a language?

To facilitate discussion of these topics, students will be introduced to the approaches of various influential thinkers, including Paul Valéry (1871–1945), David Hume (1711–1776), Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), Aristotle (384–322 BCE), Jean-François Lyotard (1924–1998), Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980), Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), and Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951).

The workshops will be conducted in English, but are tailored for students whose first language is not English. A substantial use of visual aids (including paintings, sculptures, installations, and design) will support learning. Study materials will be distributed in advance, with all relevant text excerpts provided in the handouts.

Each workshop lasts for three hours and is divided into three sections:

(A) Formal lectures

(B) Group discussions

(C) Individual tutorials

Syllabus:

Week One

(1) What is artistic thinking?

Description: 

Reflection on the extent to which art needs theory in order to make sense.

Introduction to Western theories of art, their benefits and limitations.

Keywords: Western theories of art (modernism and postmodernism)

Level:  intermediate

Outcome: after this lecture, students will have a better understanding of the relationship between art and its theories

Prior knowledge: basic

References:

Charles Harrison and Paul J. Wood (eds.) Art in Theory 1900 - 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas (2002)

Paul Valéry, Leonardo and the Philosophers (1929)

(2) What is taste? 

Description:

Discussion of whether taste matters when it comes to appreciate a work of art.

If so, is taste universal or personal? Is it possible to define a standard of taste? 

Keywords: art, taste, David Hume

Level:  intermediate

Outcome: students will be able to reflect on the nature of taste and its complexities

Prior knowledge: basic

References:

David Hume, Of the Standard of Taste, 1757

Theodore Gracyk, “Hume’s Essay on Taste” in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016

(https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume-aesthetics/#HumeEssaTast)

(3) What are judgements of beauty? 

Description:

Reflection on questions concerning our experience of beauty in art, design or architecture.

Is there such a thing as beauty and is it relevant to artistic experience? Introduction to Immanuel Kant’s aesthetics.

Keywords: judgment, beauty, Immanuel Kant

Level:  intermediate

Outcome: students will have a better understanding of the nature of the experience of beauty

Prior knowledge: basic

References:

Immanuel Kant, Critique of Judgement, 1790

Douglas Burnham, “Immanuel Kant: Aesthetics” in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019

(https://www.iep.utm.edu/kantaest/)

(4) Is there truth in art? 

Description:

Reflection on whether the work of art represents, embodies, or presents a particular truth. Introduction to Martin Heidegger’s conception of the work of art.

Keywords: art, truth, representation, Martin Heidegger

Level:  intermediate

Outcome: students will be able to reflect on how art relates to truth

Prior knowledge: basic

References:

Martin Heidegger, The Origin of the Work of Art, 1950

Iain Thomson, “Heidegger’s Aesthetics” in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019

(https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/heidegger-aesthetics/)

(5) Is art authentic? 

Description:

The question of whether the content and the contours of the work of art are always clearly defined. Discussion on what is the authenticity of the work of art.

Keywords: art, authenticity, Jacques Derrida

Level:  intermediate

Outcome: students will be able to question the notion of authenticity in art

Prior knowledge: basic

References:

Jacques Derrida, The Truth in Painting, 1978

Jacques Derrida and Craig Owens, “The Parergon” in October, Vol. 9, 1979

(https://www.jstor.org/stable/778319)

Week Two

(6) What do still-life paintings really represent? 

Description:

Discussion on the nature of what is depicted in the tradition of the still-life.

Reflection on questions of representation, space and time in our perceptual experience of still-life art.

Keywords: still life, nature, Aristotle

Level:  intermediate

Outcome: students will be able to reflect insightfully into what it means to look at still life painting 

Prior knowledge: basic

References:

Aristotle, Physics, 4th century BCE

Norman Bryson, Looking at the Overlooked – Four Essays on Still Life Painting, 1990

(7) Is the meaning of art always visible? 

Description:

Reflection on the degree to which what is thought to be visible in artistic perception also depends on what is unseen. Is the meaning of visual art only depending on what we see?

Keywords: figure, event, meaning, Jean-François Lyotard

Level:  intermediate

Outcome: students will be able to develop an understanding of aspects of contemporary French aesthetics

Prior knowledge: basic

References:

Jean-François Lyotard, Discourse, Figure, 1974

Ashley Woodward, “Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998) – Art and Aesthetics” in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019

(8) What is artistic imagination?

The question of whether imagination in art is a way of negating the real. What is the nature and role of imagination in artistic perception and creation?

Keywords:  imagination, reality, perception, Jean-Paul Sartre

Level:  intermediate

Outcome: students will become aware of the nature and role of imagination in artistic experience

Prior knowledge: basic

References:

Jean-Paul Sartre, The Imaginary, 1940

W. H. Bossart, “Sartre's Theory of the Imagination” in Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, Volume 11, 1980

(9) Does the unconscious play a role in artistic creation? 

Introduction to psychoanalytical interpretation of creativity in art. What is the relevance and limitations of psychoanalysis when it comes to understanding the nature of art?

Keywords:  psychoanalysis, interpretation, creativity, Sigmund Freud

Level:  intermediate

Outcome: students will develop an understanding of psychoanalytical interpretation of art and its limitations 

Prior knowledge: basic

References:

Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900

Ashley Woodward, “Aesthetics in Continental Philosophy – Freud” in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019 (https://www.iep.utm.edu/aes-cont/#SH4b)

(10) Is art a language?

Debating whether art is a language without words. Refection on the relevance and limitations of understanding art as language.

Keywords:  meaning, language, analysis, Ludwig Wittgenstein  

Level:  intermediate

Outcome: students will become aware of the implications of thinking art as language

Prior knowledge: basic

References:

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, 1953

Garry Hagberg, “Wittgenstein’s Aesthetics” in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2014

(https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wittgenstein-aesthetics/)