This course introduces students to the major questions in the philosophy of art. These include such questions as whether our judgments of what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ art are objective, what terms like ‘art’, ‘beauty’, ‘creativity’, ‘expression’ and ‘imagination’ might mean, how art could help us to live better lives, whether and how art relates to reality, feeling, society, religion and politics and what differences there are between contemporary, modern and classical kinds of art. Students will develop their own answers to these questions by studying those of important philosophers, from Plato, Kant and Hegel to Nietzsche, Benjamin, Žižek and Deleuze, by relating them to specific artworks and by discussing them extensively in class and in writing.

The course begins with the classical issues and ideas found in Plato’s accounts of love, beauty and art and how these inform eighteenth-century ideals of art appreciation. We will then turn to Kant’s equally rich ideas of imagination, originality and experience and to Hegel’s sophisticated ideas of culture, religion and expression, in each case also exploring how these ideas are later taken up and reformulated by romantic, modern and contemporary artists and philosophers. For further information, see 'Schedule' below.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• understand major issues and arguments in ancient, modern and contemporary philosophy of art;

• evaluate how these issues and arguments illuminate and are illuminated by specific artworks;  

• develop reasoned positions regarding these issues and arguments;

• present, discuss and analyse course material orally and in writing and individually and in groups;

• make appropriate reference to relevant resources and undertake guided research work.

Students will be assessed according to the learning outcomes. Thus threshold (grade C) work will demonstrate a basic understanding of relevant cases, positions and arguments and of relevant theoretical approaches, a familiarity with some relevant readings, some ability to analyze and evaluate this material and the ability to present and discuss it with some clarity. Good (grade B) and excellent (grade A) work will demonstrate a more thorough grasp of the relevant material, more depth and independence of analysis and evaluation and more clarity and precision in presentation and discussion, while poor (grade D) and fail grade (grade F) level work will reveal substantial deficiencies in understanding, analysis and/or presentation.

John Cabot University’s general assessment criteria

A (95%+) and A- (90-94%) work is relatively rare, expected to stand out from the work of other students and:

directly addresses the question or problem raised, provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information, critically evaluates concepts and theory, relates theory to practice, reflects the student’s own argument and is not just a repetition of standard lecture and reference material, is very accurate, has an element of novelty if not originality, provides evidence of reading beyond the required reading and displays an awareness of methodological concerns and displays an awareness of the limitations of current knowledge.

B+ (87-89%) and B (83-86%) grades indicate a highly competent level of performance and:

directly addresses the question or problem raised, provides a coherent argument drawing on relevant information, shows some ability to evaluate concepts and theory and to relate theory to practice, reflects the student’s own argument and is not just a repetition of standard lecture and reference material, does not suffer from any major errors or omissions, provides evidence of reading beyond the required reading and displays an awareness of other approaches to the problem area.

B- (80-82%) or C+ (77-79%) work is an acceptable level of performance and:

addresses the question but provides only a basic outline of relevant arguments and evidence along the lines offered in the lectures and referenced readings, gives answers that are clear but limited and with some minor omissions and inaccuracies, although no major errors.

C (73-76%) or C- (70-72%) work demonstrates some knowledge and an element of understanding, but is weak and:

points made in the answer are not always well supported by argument and evidence, relevant points have been omitted from the answer, there are some errors in the answer, parts of the question remain unanswered and answers may be unduly brief and possibly in note form.

D+ (67-69%), D (63-66%) or D- (60-62%) work does just enough to persuade the instructor that they should not be failed and:

answers lack a coherent grasp of the problems and issues raised in the question, important information has been omitted from the answers and irrelevant points have been included and answers are far too brief.

Fail (below 60%) work fails to convince the instructor that students have benefited from academic study and:

fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question, reveals fundamental misunderstanding of the subject matter and most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

Course outline


Below are the basic topics of the course and the primary texts from which readings will be taken, divided by class. For most classes, secondary readings and one or more specific artworks will also be assigned to study. With the class’ agreement, one or two classes will be given at exhibitions and/or dedicated to visiting speakers. 

Week  Topic                          Tuesday                                              Thursday  

1.         Introduction                                                                            What is good and bad art?

I.          Classical and modern debates

2.         Love and illusion        Plato, Symposium                                Republic

3.         Is taste subjective?      Hume, ‘Of the Standard of Taste’      Goethe, Italian Journey

4.         The imagination          Kant, Critique of Judgment                 Lessing, ‘Laocoon’

5.         The historical spirit      Hegel, Lectures on Aesthetics

6.         Review for mid-term assignment + Theme work preparation

II.        Understanding modernist and contemporary art

7.         The sublime                 Nietzsche, Birth of Tragedy                Lyotard, ‘What is Postmodernism?’

8.                                             Žižek, Sublime Object of Ideology      Looking Awry

9.        Phenomenology           Merleau-Ponty, ‘Cézanne’s Doubt’    Heidegger, ‘Origin of Art’

10.                                           Deleuze, Logic of Sensation                Cinema 2

11.       Politics                        Benjamin, ‘Mechanical Reproduction’ Baudrillard, The Evil Demon

12.                                           Kristeva, ‘Decollation’                        ‘The Malady of Grief’

13.       Presentations of theme work

14.       Review for final examination  + Preparation of final assignment     


Basic bibliography

Below are the primary readings that students will be expected to study for each class, arranged by week and class. Secondary readings and further materials will be provided on the class website or in class and bibliographical references to all materials will also be given on the class website.

2. Plato, The Symposium, 201d-212b

    Plato, The Republic, 595a-605c

3. Hume, ‘Of the Standard of Taste’

    Goethe, Italian Journey, ‘Second Rome Visit’, 20 June, 27 June, 30 June, 20 July, 29 July, August in retrospect, 5 September, 25 December, December in retrospect

4. Kant, Critique of the Power of Judgment, ‘Analytic of the Beautiful’, §§ 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 15, 16 and 22, and ‘Analytic of the Sublime’, § 46

    Lessing, ‘Laocoon’

5. Hegel, Lectures on Aesthetics, ‘Introduction’, ‘The New Gods of the Classical Ideal’, ‘The Romantic Form of Art’ and ‘The End of the Romantic Form of Art’

7. Kant, Critique of the Power of Judgment, ‘Analytic of the Sublime’, §§ 24, 25 and 28

    Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy, §§ 1-3, 7 and 14

    Lyotard, ‘Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism?’, in The Postmodern Condition

8. Žižek, The Sublime Object of Ideology, pp.116-122 and 227-234, and Looking Awry, pp. 107-122, 125-130 and 143-145

9. Merleau-Ponty, ‘Cézanne’s Doubt’, in Sense and Nonsense

    Heidegger, ‘The Origin of the Work of Art’, in Poetry, Language, Thought

10. Deleuze, Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation, pp. x-xv, 34-43, 56-57, 86-87, 90-92, 96-98, 119-21 and 136-43, and Cinema 2: The Time-Image, pp.1-13

11. Benjamin, ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’, in Illuminations

      Baudrillard, The Evil Demon of Images, pp. 13-15, 16-18, 28-30, and 33-34

12. Kristeva, ‘Decollation’, in Oliver and Keltner (eds.), Psychoanalysis, Aesthetics and Politics in the Work of Julia Kristeva, and ‘The Malady of Grief: Duras’, in Black Sun