OVERVIEW

Aesthetics and its main themes are introduced. Aesthetic judgments are studied as evaluative judgments and compared with both descriptive and other evaluative judgments, especially moral judgments. Theater and cinema are considered as case studies. Through guided reading of articles or book chapters, awareness of the debates that characterize contemporary aesthetics is created.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at giving a general outline of basic aesthetic problems. The main points of interest are a general historical introduction, the ontological status of the art object, the receiver’s role in the construction of its meaning. Students will be guided through the reading of one or more classics in aesthetics.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students are expected to manage the concept of aesthetics and the main notions connected with it, in particular cinema and theater. As for the students of the Schools of Humanities and Social Sciences who have included the discipline in their study plan for 6 credits, as well as the students of the Polytechnic School who have included the discipline in their study plan for 8 credits, it is also expected that they are able to apply this conceptual apparatus to their specific areas. In the second part of the class, which is specific for students who have included the discipline in their study plan for 9 credits, we will read some articles or book chapters, in order to familiarize students with the main debates of contemporary aesthetics, and to lead them to the critical discussion of the theses and arguments proposed by the philosophers who participate in those debates.

The expected learning outcomes are the following:

1) To provide an appropriate characterization of aesthetics as a philosophical discipline and the importance of the aesthetic dimension in human existence.

2) To be familiar with fundamental notions of the discipline.

3) To relate aesthetic judgment and moral judgment.

4) To understand cinema as an art form.

5) To understand theater as an art form.

6) To critically read texts pertaining to debates in contemporary aesthetics, identifying their theses and arguments.

PREREQUISITES

Although the class is taught in Italian, understanding of texts written in English is required

TEACHING METHODS

Teaching in presence

The class consists of 60 hours (40 for students having 6 or 8 credits), with phases of collective discussion and learning verification. There will be seminar activities for 9-credit students.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

- Aesthetics within the framework of philosophy

- The centrality of the aesthetic dimension of human existence

- The fundamental notions of aesthetics

- Aesthetic values and moral values

- Cinema as an art form

- Theater as an art form

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Students having 6 CFU:

PINOTTI ANDREA (a cura di), Il primo libro di estetica, Einaudi

DE CARO MARIO & TERRONE ENRICO, I valori al cinema: una prospettiva etico-estetica, Mondadori (in corso di stampa)

Supplementary text for students who cannot attend the classes: NIETZSCHE, FRIEDRICH, La nascita della tragedia, Adelphi

Students having 8 CFU (students of Polytechnic School, for whom, however, only attendance for 6 credits is mandatory):

PINOTTI ANDREA (a cura di), Il primo libro di estetica, Einaudi

DE CARO MARIO & TERRONE ENRICO, I valori al cinema: una prospettiva etico-estetica, Mondadori (in corso di stampa)

Supplementary text for students who cannot attend the classes: NIETZSCHE, FRIEDRICH, La nascita della tragedia, Adelphi

Students having 9 CFU:

PINOTTI ANDREA (a cura di), Il primo libro di estetica, Einaudi

DE CARO MARIO & TERRONE ENRICO, I valori al cinema: una prospettiva etico-estetica, Mondadori (in corso di stampa)

JAEGER WERNER, Paideia, Bompiani (Libro secondo: Apogeo e crisi dello spirito attico)

Supplementary text for students who cannot attend the classes: NIETZSCHE, FRIEDRICH, La nascita della tragedia, Adelphi

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ENRICO TERRONE (President)

MARIA SILVIA VACCAREZZA

FEDERICO ZUOLO (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

II semester

Class schedule

AESTETHICS

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam concerns both the content presented and discussed in class and the content of the reference texts.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

During the class, the active participation of students is encouraged and valued while discussing particular aspects of the program. The final test will allow to assess the level of understanding the philosophical ideas that has been thought, the mastery of them and the ability to present them, as well as the disposition for critical analysis of theses and arguments, and the propensity to their construction. The student who shows understanding of the basic notions and issues of the discipline, and presents them clearly and coherently, but only in their essential lines, is assessed as “sufficient”. The student who masters the basic notions and issues of the discipline and is able to analyze them is assessed as “good”. The student who, in addition to mastering the basic notions and issues of the discipline, and being able to analyze them, also proves to be inclined to the construction of original theses and arguments is assessed as “outstanding”.

Exam schedule