1200 Academy St. Kalamazoo, MI 49006

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PROFESSOR: Chris Latiolais
Humphrey House #202
Office Hours: 1) Mon. 9:00 - 10:00 2) Wed. 2:00 - 4:00 3) By Appointment.

COURSE GOALS:
This course offers student an introduction to a variety of traditional, philosophical theories of art: for example, Platonic, Aristotelian, rationalist, empiricist, idealist, Marxist, phenomenological, existentialist, feminist and, finally, postmodernist aesthetics theories. Such theoretical positions inform, but are also tested by, critical and interpretive articles about particular types or examples of artworks: for example, painting, sculpture, film, architecture and Handcraft. We will focus our attention upon the visual arts -- as opposed to literary, musical, theatrical and the dance media. Students will gain an appreciation of the difficulties philosophers have encountered in framing a theory of "aesthetic perception" and, more importantly, of the remarkable variety of visual artforms.
 

EVALUATION:
Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, vocabulary quizzes, midterm examinations and a final paper.

Class Participation, seminar presentations and discussion=20%
Midterm examinations 2 @ 15% each=30%
Quizzes 5 @ 5% each=25%
Final Paper 10-15 pages=25%

POLICIES:
Open, respectful and critical discussion is the life-blood of this course. Quizzes offer students and teacher the opportunity to identify and to clarify central terms/concepts. The midterm examinations test comprehension of key philosophical issues, and the final paper offers students the opportunity to respond in depth to a single topic. The final paper is due on the day scheduled for the final examination. 3 unexcused absences will result in a full grade reduction.

TEXTS:
1. [Excerpts] Ross, Stephen David (Ed.), Art and Its Significance: An Anthology of Aesthetic Theory (Sate University of New York Press, Albany N.Y. 1994).

2. Alperson, Philip (Ed.) The Philosophy of the Visual Arts Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1992).

3. Goodman, Nelson: Ways of Worldmaking (Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis, Indiana 1978).

READING SCHEDULE

I. PICTORIAL ARTS: REPRESENTATION AND THE VISIBLE WORLD:

THURSDAY, MARCH 28TH:
1. Plato, Excerpts from The Republic (Alperson, pp. 63-72).

WEEK TWO
TUESDAY, APRIL 2ND:
1. Gombrich: "Truth and the Stereotype: An Illusion Theory of Representation" (Alperson, pp. 72-88).
2. Goodman: "Reality Remade: A Denotation Theory of Representation" (Alperson, pp. 88-102).

THURSDAY, APRIL 4TH:
1. Goodman, Nelson: Ways of Worldmaking.

WEEK THREE
TUESDAY, APRIL 9TH:
1. Goodman, Nelson: Ways of Worldmaking (Cont.).

THURSDAY, APRIL 11TH:
1. Goodman, Nelson: Ways of Worldmaking (end).

WEEK FOUR
TUESDAY, APRIL 16TH:
1. Walton: "Looking at Pictures and Looking at Things" (Alperson, pp. 102-114).
2. Walton (Handout): "Depictive Representation," Chapter 8 of Mimesis as Make-Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts.

THURSDAY, APRIL 18TH:
1. Walton (Handout): "Depictive Representation," Chapter 8 of Mimesis as Make-Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts (Cont.)

WEEK FIVE
TUESDAY, APRIL 23RD:
1. Ross: "Caricature" (Alperson, pp. 114-119).
2. Bell, Clive: "The Aesthetic Hypothesis: Significant Form and Aesthetic Emotion" (Alperson, pp. 119 - 129).
3. Langer: "Feeling and Form" (Ross, pp. 221-237).
4. Kandinsky, Wassily: "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" (Alperson, pp. 129-146).
5. Beardsley, Monroe: "Symbolism" (Alperson, pp. 146-157).

II. PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF THE VISUAL ARTS:

THURSDAY, APRIL 25TH:
1. Arnheim, Rudolf: "Art and Thought" (Alperson pp. 157-171).
2. Freud, Sigmund: "Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood" (pp. 171-176).

WEEK SIX
TUESDAY, APRIL 3OTH:
1. Read, Herbert: "The Forms of Things Unknown" (pp, 176-189).
2. Morgan, Douglas: "Psychology and Art Today: A Summary and Critique" (pp. 189-205).

III. RELIGIOUS MOTIFS IN PAINTINGS:

THURSDAY, MAY 2ND:
1. Gilson, Etienne: "The Religious Significance of Painting" (pp. 205-216).
2. Steinberg, Leo: "The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion" (pp. 216-235).

IV. SCULPTURE, ARCHITECTURE, AND HANDCRAFT: THE ARTICULATION OF SPACE.

WEEK SEVEN
TUESDAY, MAY 7TH:
1. Read: "The Discovery of Space" (Alperson, pp. 347-357).
2. Greenough: "Form and Function" (Alperson, pp. 364-368).
3. Goodman: "How Buildings Mean" (Alperson, pp. 368-377).
4. Graves: "A Case for Figurative Architecture" (Alperson, pp. 377-381).

THURSDAY, MAY 9TH:
1. Merleau-Ponty, Maurice: "Cezanne's Doubt" (Handout).

V. FILM AND NEO-MARXIST CRITICISM.

WEEK EIGHT

TUESDAY, MAY 14TH:
1. Merleau-Ponty: "Eye and Mind" (Ross, pp. 281-299).

THURSDAY, MAY 16TH:
2. Benjamin: "The Work of Art in the Age of its Technical Reproducibility" (Ross, pp. 526-539).
3. Second Midterm Examination.

VI. FEMINIST AESTHETICS:

WEEK NINE
TUESDAY, MAY 21ST:

VII. MULTICULTURALISM AND TRADITIONAL AESTHETICS:

THURSDAY, MAY 23RD:

WEEK TEN
TUESDAY, MAY 28TH: Review.

THURSDAY, MAY 30TH: Review & Student Evaluations.

FINAL EXAMINATION