Wellesley College | Spring 2026
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.
Introduction: Some basic tools for the course.
Foundations 1: Disagreement and Trust
Elizabeth Cantalamessa, "Debating Bon Jovi's cheesiness will enrich your conceptual life" at Psyche (+interview at Polite Conversations)
Foundations 2: Expertise and Achievement
Dominic McIver Lopes, "Aesthetic Experts, Guides to Value"
Foundations 3: Community and Aesthetic Life
Nick Riggle, "Toward a Communitarian Theory of Aesthetic Value" (+interview at Polite Conversations)
Aesthetic Judgment 1
Alex King (she/her), "Taco Bell and the Paradox of Ironic Appreciation"
Aesthetic Judgment 2
Matt Strohl, "Why It's OK to Love Bad Movies" (Chapter 1)
Aesthetic Judgment 3
James Harold, "The Value of Fidelity in Adaptation"
Sukaina Hirji, "The Odyssey Belongs to All of Us" in Dissent Magazine
Ethical Criticism 1
Noël Carroll, "Moderate Moralism"
Ethical Criticism 2
Berys Gaut, "The Ethical Criticism of Art"
Ethical Criticism 3
A. W. Eaton, "Robust Immoralism"
Ethical Criticism 4
Adriana Clavel-Vázquez , "The Diversity of Intrinsic Ethical Flaws in Fiction"
Ethical Criticism 5
Erich Hatala Matthes (oy, that guy), "Immoral Artists"
Horror 1
Noël Carroll, “Why Horror?”
Horror 2
Guest lecture with Brandon Callender!
Horror 3
Nicholas Whittaker, "Toward a Definition of Black Cinematic Horror"
Horror 4
Ian Stoner, "Barbarous Spectacle and General Massacre: A Defence of Gory Fictions"
AI Art 1
G. M. "Boomer" Trujillo, Jr., "AI Art is Art" at Aesthetics for Birds
AI Art 2
Antony Cross, "Tool, Collaborator, or Participant?"
AI Art 3
Lindsay Brainard, "Artificial Intelligence and the Threat of Creative Obsolescence"
AI Art 4
Jordan Mackenzie's "Fear and Loathing in Silicon Valley: How AI Threatens Human Valuing"
Music 1
Jay Miller, "What Makes Heavy Metal 'Heavy'?"
Music 2
Alex King, "The Virtue of Subtlety and the Vice of a Heavy Hand" (+interview at Polite Conversations)
Music 3
"Cover Me Softly" and "The Cops of Pop" from Barry Lam's Hi-Phi Nation
Tour of Excavating Antioch exhibition at the Davis Museum
Kwame Anthony Appiah "Whose Culture is it Anyway?"
Peer Editing Day
Conclusion