PHIL 732 : Philosophy of the Arts 2

Arts

2020 Semester One (1203) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Discussion of selected topics in philosophy of the arts.

Course Overview

This course considers debates about the connections between aesthetics, the philosophy of art, and human evolution.

Many theories of art are explored in depth. These include theories that group the arts and regard them as together serving some general adaptive function, that present particular art forms each as adaptive in their own distinctive fashion, that attempt to explain the origins of art, that argue that art is not itself adaptive but is a by-product of behaviours or systems that are and that analyse art as a technology not closely connected to evolved behaviours.

As well as philosophical literature on aesthetics and the philosophy of art, reference will be made to work in other disciplines, such as evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, evolution theory, philosophy of biology and art-based disciplines.

Course Requirements

No pre-requisites or restrictions

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 6: Social and Environmental Responsibilities

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Appreciate representative theories of philosophers in the areas of aesthetics and philosophy of art in relation to evolution. (Capability 1.1)
  2. Analyse and evaluate philosophers' arguments in key books and papers on aesthetics, art, and evolution. (Capability 1.3 and 2.1)
  3. Engage insightfully and critically with others' ideas. (Capability 2.2)
  4. Express in your own words your understanding of others' ideas. (Capability 4.1)
  5. Formulate your own ideas clearly in the context of academic discourse. (Capability 4.2)
  6. Compare and contrast multiple, including cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary, perspectives. (Capability 2.3 and 6.2)
  7. Develop and demonstrate capacity for independent research. (Capability 1.3 and 2.3)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Essay 90% Individual Coursework
Presentation 10% Individual Coursework
Assessment

100% coursework.

Class presentation:
All students are expected to give one class presentation of 10-20 minutes. The presentation should summarise the readings set for the class, outline the issues on which there is disagreement, and explain the nature of the disagreement. The presentation is valued at 10%. Students who do not give a presentation will be penalised 5% on their final result.

There are two options for completing the coursework requirement:
Either
One 3000 word essay, worth 60%.
One class presentation assessed at 15%.
Written 400 word summaries/comments on readings for five other classes, worth 25%.
Or
Either two 3,000 word essays, each 50%. Or one 6,000 word essay These can be based on sections of the textbook.

Due dates for essays will be advised.

Next offered

2022

Learning Resources

TEXTBOOKS:

Stephen Davies, The Artful Species, which is available as an e-book via the library or in paperback.
http://www.amazon.com/Artful-Species-Aesthetics-Art-Evolution/dp/0198709633/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454460164&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Artful+Species
http://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=The+Artful+Species&search=Find+book

Richard A. Richards, The Biology of Art, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, which is available as an e-book via the library.

RECOMMENDED:
Denis Dutton, The Art Instinct, Oxford: Oxford University Press OR New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2009.  General library main collection 701.17 D98 2010; General Library Level M_Fine Arts Main Collection 701.17 D98
Henrik Høgh-Olesen, The Aesthetic Animal, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019, which is available as an e-book via the library.
Richard O. Prum, The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin’s Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World — and Us. Doubleday, 2017. (not in the library)

All other weekly readings will be available electronically via CANVAS.

LIBRARY RESOURCES
GL = General Library; FA = Fine Arts Library

GENERAL INTRODUCTIONS:
Stephen Davies, The Philosophy of Art, (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016. Second edition.) ISBN: 978-1-119-09165-3
Noël Carroll, Philosophy of Art: A Contemporary Introduction.  (London: Routledge, 1999). ISBN  0-415-15964-4; GL  111.85 C319 & SLC.
Robert Stecker, Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art: An Introduction, (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010 second edition). ISBN 0-7425-1461-7; SL 111.85 S81 2010.

JOURNALS:
British Journal of Aesthetics - GL 111.85 B86; FA SERIALS
Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism - FA  SERIALS
Philosophy and Literature - GL 809 P56

REFERENCE BOOKS:
Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics. J. Levinson (ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. GL 111.85 L66o
Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, Michael Kelly (ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.  4 Vols. GL Reference 111.8503 K29
Routledge Companion to Aesthetics.  Berys Gaut & Dominic McIver Lopez (eds.), London: Routledge, 2001. GL 111.85 G27 (Second edition, 2004.)
Blackwell Companion to Aesthetics (second edition), Stephen Davies, Kathleen Marie Higgins, Robert Hopkins, Robert Stecker, & David Cooper (ed). Maldern: Blackwell-Wiley, 2009. GL 111.85 C73 2009
Blackwell Companion to Aesthetics, David Cooper (ed). Oxford: Blackwell, 1992. GL Reference 111.85 C73
Blackwell Guide to Aesthetics. P. Kivy (ed.), Oxford: Blackwell, 2003. GL 111.85 K62b

COLLECTIONS OF READINGS:
Aesthetics, James O. Young (ed.), London: Routledge, 2005. 4 Vols. GL 111.85 Y68
Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art: The Analytic Tradition, P. Lamarque & S. H. Olsen (eds.), Oxford: Blackwell, 2003. FA 701.17 A254p

GENERAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS:
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward Craig (Editor-in-Chief).  London: Routledge, 1998.  10 Vols. GL Reference 100 C88
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, P. Edwards (ed.), (London: Macmillan & Free Press, 1967. 8 Vols. GL 103 E26
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Supplement D. Bourchet (ed.), (New York: Macmillan Reference, 1996. GL 103 E26 supp
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, electronic at http://plato.stanford.edu/

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 2 hours of lectures, 6 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 2 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

LECTURE ARCHIVE

The Aesthetics Research Group at the University of Kent has a public archive of recorded lectures in aesthetics:
https://www.kent.ac.uk/arts/research/centres/aestheticsresearchgroup/materialsarchive.htmlThe archive includes audio and video recordings of research talks given by Noël Carroll, Howard Caygill, Gregory Currie, David Davies, Susan Dwyer, Jonathan Friday, Andrew Kania, Jerrold Levinson, Patrick Maynard, Aaron Meskin, Alex Neill, Kathleen Stock, Cain Todd, Rob van Gerwen, Scott Walden, Kendall Walton, Tom Wartenberg.
Jerrold Levinson’s entire lecture series on “Key Concepts in Aesthetics” is also available in audioformat.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page (https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894), which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 03/12/2019 02:35 p.m.