PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE AND THE ARTS

As part of the Master's Degree in Economics and Management of Arts and Cultural Activities, this course aims to develop a critical awareness about the relationshis between art, the individual and society, the definition of art, and the interpretation of artworks. The aim of the course is to allow a careful use of these conceptual tools by future operators in the management of arts and cultural activities.

Knowledge and understanding: knowledge of the topics covered in the course, independent self-orientation within the bibliography, critical awareness in using the fundamental concepts introduced in the course.
Applied knowledge and understanding: to recognize and use the notion of essentialism/antiessentialism in art, to discuss the concept of interpretation in art, to critically understand the relationships between the individual and society in art.
Making judgments: The course aims to provide the tools for a critical consideration of the relationships and dynamics between artistic practices and social reality.
At the end of the course, students should acquire adequate communication skills to discuss investigated topics, as well as to formulate independent assessments providing sustainable reasons.

No specific prerequisites are requested.

Part I: Art, Individual and Society
Part II: Defining Art (essentialism)
Part III: Defining Art (antiessentialism)
Part IV: Interpretation

For preparing their exams, students are requested to study the following list of essays and articles:
All readings are provided for this course.

Readings with an * can be found in: Neill, Alex & Ridley, Aaron (1994). The Philosophy of Art: Readings Ancient and Modern. McGraw-Hill Education.

These are all provided here: Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sHc7NzndzNr1SaoRwN7AOEBWxLXxTBVg/view?usp=drive_link

* Barthes, Roland. "The Death of the Author."
* Bell, Clive. "The Aesthetic Hypothesis." Art.
* Danto, Arthur C. "The Artworld."
* Dewey, John. "Having An Experience." From Art as Experience.
* Dewey, John. "The Live Creature." From Art as Experience.
* Dickie, George. "The New Institutional Theory of Art."
* Greenberg, Clement. "Modernist Painting."
* Hirsch, E. D. "In Defense of the Author."
* Sontag, Susan. "Against Interpretation."
* Wimsatt-Beardsley, Monroe C. "The Intentional Fallacy."

Full citations for above readings:
Books:

Barthes, Roland. Image, Music, Text. Translated by Stephen Heath. Hill and Wang, 1977.
Bell, Clive. Art. Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1914.
Dewey, John. Art as Experience. Putnam, 1934.
Dickie, George. The Artworld. Cornell University Press, 1979.
Greenberg, Clement. Art and Culture: Critical Essays. Beacon Press, 1961.



Journal Articles:

Danto, Arthur C. "The Artworld." Journal of Philosophy 61.4 (1964): 331-39.
Sontag, Susan. "Against Interpretation." The Saturday Review (1964): 17-28.
Wimsatt-Beardsley, Monroe C. "The Intentional Fallacy." Sewanee Review 54.3 (1946): 346-61.

The written examination will be made up of 4 open questions on the texts indicated in the exam bibliography.
The exam will take 2 hours.
The exam will evaluate if the students have acquired the knowledge delivered in the course, their capacity to give reasons, their ability to communicate the different positions with critical awareness as well as their capacity to apply them to current cultural contexts.

Frontal lessons and reading of the texts. Discussions in class on specific topics.

Italian

Although the exam remains the same, students who cannot attend the course are requested to contact the teacher for helpful suggestions to prepare for the exam (robdre@unive.it).
Students are requested to subscribe to the Moodle space of the course as well as to regularly consult materials and information they can find there.

Ca' Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development