AESTHETICS II

This course will help students develop the ability to deepen their understanding of classical philosophical aesthetics through investigations into secondary literature and the mapping of philosophical debates, by acquiring an attentive attitude toward different interpretative lines. As a result of the course, the student will approach the authors and classical aesthetic topics with a critical awareness of the debate they have generated, knowing how to navigate within the tradition, respecting the plurality of readings, and establishing a first critical personal approach to the considered topics and authors.

Knowledge and understanding: As a result of this course, students should acquire the conceptual tools for understanding some crucial aesthetic debates as well as for contextualizing main aesthetic issues and classical authors on their theoretical and historical background.
Applying knowledge and understanding: As a further goal, students should achieve the capacity to explore and delve into secondary literature, as well as reconstruct philosophical debates about a topic or an author.
Making judgments: The course is expected to provide some basic tools for a critical reconstruction of the different positions within aesthetics debates, based on a critical, although not reductive, engagement with reference to alternative interpretations.
By the end of the course, students should be able to expose their analysis of the considered literature with clarity and convenient arguments through oral presentations.

In order to take the exam of Aesthetic II students are requested to have passed the written examination in Aesthetics I with Professor Dreon.
The current syllabus is designed as a development of the program worked out in Aesthetics I by Professor Dreon.

The course Aesthetics II will continue to explore the aesthetic tradition begun in the Aesthetics I course.
The general topic of the course will be the relationship between aesthetics and human nature in the 18th-century English aesthetics, with a focus on some fundamental classics: from Francis Hutcheson’s essay "The Origin of Beauty," to Edmund Burke's "A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful," to David Hume's "Essays on Taste and the Arts," particularly the essay "On the Standard of Taste."
Following the thread of the relationship between taste and human nature in the 18th-century philosophical context, particular attention will be given to the connections with the philosophy of passions, key concepts such as pleasure, interest, and habit, as well as the links between sentiment, judgment, and language.

Requested texts for taking the test:
Burke, E., "A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful"
Hume, D., "The Standard of Taste" - a selection of other essays on taste and the arts from : https://davidhume.org/texts/t/
Hume, D., "A Treatise of Human Nature", – a selection of paragraphs from Book II, On the Passions - cf.: https://davidhume.org/texts/t/
Hutcheson, F., "An Inquiry into the Original of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue".

The exam consists of an oral test (3/4 open questions), concerning concepts, argumentations, and texts that have been read during the lessons and requested for the examination (see the previous section).

oral

A. Grades between 18 and 22 will be assigned for:
Sufficient knowledge and understanding of the requested texts and related topics.
Limited ability to answer questions correctly, clearly, pertinently, and with adequate arguments.

B. Grades between 23 and 26 will be assigned for:
Fair knowledge of requested texts and related topics.
Fair ability to answer questions correctly, clearly, pertinently, and with adequate arguments.

C. Grades between 27 and 30 will be assigned for:
Good or excellent knowledge and understanding of requested texts and related topics.
Good or excellent ability to answer questions correctly, clearly, pertinently, and with adequate arguments
.
D. "Honors" will be awarded to students who demonstrate excellent knowledge and understanding of requested texts and related topics. Excellent clarity and robust arguments.

Direct reading of the texts and detailed analysis, even considering the scholarship on topics at stake.

Students who cannot attend the course are requested to contact the teacher (robdre@unive.it).
Students are requested to subscribe to the Moodle space of the course as well as to regularly check 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.

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