PHIL 203: Philosophy of Art

Wellesley College | Spring 2022

DRAFT, SUBJECT TO CHANGE

In this course, we will examine a broad set of philosophical questions about art. What is art? Why does it matter? Are there objective standards of taste, or is beauty in the eye of the beholder? What is the relationship between aesthetics and ethics? In addition to these general questions, we will consider specific philosophical puzzles posed by other issues in the arts, which may include horror, forgery, authenticity, restoration, cultural appropriation, public sculpture, and street art.

Readings:

1.

Introduction: Some basic tools for the course.

2.

Foundations 1: Disagreement and Trust

• Elizabeth Cantalamessa, "Debating Bon Jovi's cheesiness will enrich your conceptual life" at Psyche (+interview at Polite Conversations)

• Thi Nguyen, "The Art Solipsist" at Aesthetics for Birds

3.

Foundations 2: Expertise and Achievement

• • Dominic McIver Lopes, "Aesthetic Experts, Guides to Value"

4.

Foundations 3: Community and Aesthetic Life

• • Nick Riggle, "Toward a Communitarian Theory of Aesthetic Value" (+interview at Polite Conversations)

5.

TV and Movies 1: Adaptation

• • James Harold, "The Value of Fidelity in Adaptation"

6.

TV and Movies 2: The Good in the Bad

• • Matt Strohl, "Why It's OK to Love Bad Movies" (Chapter 1)

7.

TV and Movies 3: Horror 1

• • Noël Carroll, “Why Horror?”

8.

TV and Movies 4: Horror 2

• Nicholas Whittaker, "Toward a Definition of Black Cinematic Horror"

9.

Ethical Criticism Bridge 1: Ethical Flaws are Aesthetic Flaws

• • Berys Gaut, "The Ethical Criticism of Art"

10.

Ethical Criticism Bridge 2: Rough Heroes

• • Adriana Clavel-Vazquez, "Sugar and Spice, and Everything Nice: What Rough Heroines Tell Us about Imaginative Resistance"

11.

Ethical Criticism Bridge 3: Obstacles to Understanding

• Paul C. Taylor, "Understanding (mis)understanding: Sally be a lamb"

12.

Literature: Who Can Write about Whom? 1

• • Joy Shim, "Literary Racial Impersonation"

13.

Literature: Who Can Write about Whom? 2

• • Zadie Smith, "Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction"

14.

Literature: Who Can Write about Whom? 3

• • Zoe Cunliffe, "Narrative Fiction and Epistemic Injustice"

15.

Music 1: Sad Songs

• • Laura Sizer, "Sad Songs Say So Much: The Paradoxical Pleasures of Sad Music"

16.

Music 2: Subtlety and Heavy-Handedness

• • Alex King, "The Virtue of Subtlety and the Vice of a Heavy Hand" (+interview at Polite Conversations)

17.

Music 3: Heaviness

• • Jay Miller, "What Makes Heavy Metal 'Heavy'?"

18.

Music 4: Covers and Mashups

• • "Cover Me Softly" and "The Cops of Pop" from Barry Lam's Hi-Phi Nation

19.

Museums: Where Does Art Belong? 1

• • Kwame Anthony Appiah "Whose Culture is it Anyway?"

20.

Museums: Where Does Art Belong? 2 (Class Meets in Davis Museum)

• • A.W. Eaton and Ivan Gaskell, "Do Subaltern Artifacts Belong in Art Museums?"

21.

Public Art 1: The Monumental

• • Sandra Shapshay, "What is the Monumental?"

  • Listen: Oñate’s Foot from 99% Invisible

22.

NO CLASS (Eastern ASA)

23.

Public Art 2: The Political

• Sarah Lewis, "Groundwork: Race and Aesthetics in the Era of Stand Your Ground Law"

24.

Expanding the Arts 1

• • Yuriko Saito, "Japanese Aesthetics of Packaging"

25.

Expanding the Arts 2

• Thi Nguyen, "The Arts of Action"

26.

• • Conclusion