PHILOSOPHY 231

DEBATING ARTISTIC VALUES

DR. SCOTT STEWART

 

Winter, 2006

Office and hours: CC273. Tuesdays 1:30-4:00 p.m.;

Wednesdays, 9-12; drop by, or set up an appointment.

Communication: Phone: 563-1252; e-mail: scott_stewart@capebretonu.ca

Grading: All assignments will be of equal value.

(1) Assignment 1: Test – February 2

(2) Assignment 2: Test OR Essay -- March 7

(3) Final exam (TBA)

Text and Web Page: (1) Alex Neill and Aaron Ridley, eds., Arguing About Art, 2’nd edition.

(2) material on course web page at: http://faculty.uccb.ns.ca/sstewart/

 

Please note:

(1) Although there is no grade given formally for class participation and/or attendance,

past experience has shown a high correlation between these activities and good grades.

(2) Come to class prepared by having read the assigned reading for that day. Always

bring your text-book and/or printout(s) to class so we can refer to them during class time.

(3) Make-up tests will be given only under special circumstances and with my prior

knowledge. If you are unable to write a test, you must at the very least leave me a voice

or e-mail message.

(4) You will be graded on your writing skills as well as on other criteria.

(5) There is no supplementary exam for this course.

(6) UCCB has regulations concerning "Forms of Academic Dishonesty" including such

things as plagiarism and cheating. You should be make yourself aware of these policies

by reading the appropriate section(s) of the 2005/06 CBU calendar on pp. 226-227.

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Is art essentially an imitation? If so, is forgery wrong? Must art be moral? Why do we cry, laugh, and get scared over fictional characters? Is sentimentality a bad thing in art? What makes an art work "authentic?" Is ‘rock’ music art? Is there a feminist aesthetics? These and other questions will be examined in a mix of historical and contemporary readings.

 

 

(TENTATIVE) OUTLINE AND READINGS

 

 

Dates TOPIC READINGS ((1) = Text; (2) = web page)

Jan 10,12 Imitation Plato, Ion (2); Ernst Gombrich, "The Limits of Likeness" (2)

Jan 17,19 Forgery Lessing, What is wrong with a Forgery?" (1); Dutton, "Artistic

Crimes" (1).

Jan. 24, 26 Art & Plato, Republic, Bk. 10 (2); Tolstoy, "What Is Art?" (2);

& 31 Morality Brecht, "The Modern Theatre" (2).

Feb. 2 Test 1

Feb 7,9 Art & Morality Walton, "Morals in Fiction and Fictional Morality" (1);

Tanner, "Morals in Fiction and Fictional Morality – A

Response" (1).

Feb. 14,16 Feelings & Radford, "How Can We be Moved by the Fate of Anna

Fiction Karenina?" (1); Neill, "Fiction and the Emotions" (1).

Feb 21,23 Reading Week

Feb. 28 Horror Noel Carroll, "Why Horror?" (1)

Mar 2 Berys Gaut, "The Paradox of Horror (1)

Mar 7 Test 2 OR Essay

Mar 9, 14 Sentimentality Savile, "Sentimentality" (1)

Newman, "The … sentimentality" (1)

Mar 16, 21 Rock Music Scruton, "The Decline of Musical Culture" (1)

Gracyk, "Music’s Wordly Uses…" (1)

Shusterman, ??? (2).

Mar 23, 28, 30 Feminism Devereaux, "Oppressive Texts…" (1)

& Aesthetics Brown, "Art, Oppression, and the Autonomy

of Aesthetics" (1)

April 4 Review