PHIL3031: Aesthetics

• At least one 'Year 2' module in Philosophy.

• None.

• To give students a grounding in the philosophy of art and literature by introducing them to some historically important texts as well as to more recent work.

• In one half of the module attention is paid to key texts in aesthetics including at least some of the following: Plato's attack on 'the poets' in the 'Republic', Hume's attempt to provide criteria of aesthetic judgement in 'Of the Standard of Taste', Kant's theory of the aesthetic attitude in the 'Critique of Judgement', and Heidegger's account of the role of art in 'On the origin of the work of art'.
• In the other half of the module a number of central issues are examined from a list including the aesthetics of music, painting and film, expression in art, the nature of metaphor, the role of imagination, the definition of 'art', the canon, the aesthetics of nature.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module, students will have knowledge and understanding of key philosophical theories relating to the issues given above.
• They will have the knowledge and understanding of key philosophical issues raised by the texts given above.

Subject-specific Skills:

• correctly utilise specialist vocabulary
• grasp, analyse, evaluate and deploy subject-specific concepts and arguments
• locate, understand, assess and utilise pertinent philosophical (and, where appropriate, historical) sources
• interpret and criticise relevant texts

Key Skills:

• express themselves clearly and succinctly in writing
• comprehend complex ideas, propositions and theories
• defend their opinions by reasoned argument
• seek out and identify appropriate sources of evidence and information
• tackle problems in a clear-sighted and logical fashion.

• Lectures deliver basic module-specific information, and provide a framework for further study.
• Discussion groups provide opportunities for students to test their own understanding of the material studies, and defend and debate different opinions.
• Guided reading provides a structure within which students exercise and extend their abilities to make use of available learning resources.
• The Formative essay provides the opportunity for students to test their knowledge and understanding of the module content, and their ability to present and defend relevant arguments and theories, uninhibited by the need for summative assessment.
• The summative essay tests knowledge and understanding of the course material, and the ability to identify and explain issues covered in the module, and, using relevant research material, to present different approaches to those issues, and make reasoned judgement on the merits and demerits of such approaches.
• The unseen examination tests students' overall knowledge and understanding of the module content at the end of the module, and their ability to bring it to bear on new problems under pressure of time.

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