Philosophy 1361, Philosophy and the Arts, Fall 2006
Professor Cynthia A. Freeland cfreeland@UH.edu, 713-743-3206

JANUARY

M 14 Introduction, Overview of Course
Basics about Art & Aesthetics
Begin reading Freeland Chapter 1, Blood and Beauty

*W 16 Blood and Beauty in Art (Freeland Chapter 1) Discussion
See Art Links for Chapter 1
Blood in Art (Illustrations: Goya, Botticelli, Serrano, Mapplethorpe)
*Art Log #1 Due

M 21 No class/Martin Luther King Holiday

W 23 The "Aesthetic" and Genius (Kant ABQ 31)
Key selections in Kant
See also the Versailles Official Website.
Paper I Topics announced

M 28 Defining the "Aesthetic" (Stolnitz ABQ 7) Key selections in Stolnitz
More on the "Aesthetic" (Eaton ABQ 8) Key selections in Eaton
View Dr. Freeland's "aesthetic experience" from several years ago! (Rainbow + Sunset in Michigan).

**W 30 Begin Freeland Chapter 2, Paradigms and Purposes
See Art Links for Chapter 2
**Paper 1 Due (on Unit 1)

FEBRUARY
M 4 Ancient Aesthetics and Tragedy (Sophocles ABQ 23; videos)
Film selection to be shown in class from Aeschylus's The Eumenides (The Furies), directed by Sir Peter Hall. (This film may be viewed in the UH Library; get it at the desk in Current Periodicals.)
See also Resources for Ancient Greek Art and Aesthetics.

W 6 Ancient Tragedy (continued): Plato ABQ 18, Aristotle ABQ 24
Key points in Plato and Aristotle

*M 11 Horror (Freeland ABQ 30)
Recommended film (optional): Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Check out Dr. Freeland's horror movie book.
*Art Log #2 Due

W 13 Medieval Aesthetics: Thomas Aquinas (lecture)

M 18 Medieval Aesthetics & Cathedrals
Video on Chartres to be screened in class
See also Chartres Cathedral A Virtual Tour, by Professor Mark Trowbridge, Portland State University

W 20 Nietzsche's Aesthetics introduced, ABQ 25
Nietzsche, Tragedy, Opera
Notes on Nietzsche

M 25 Nietzsche and Wagner
Wagner's Parsifal Music and video clips in class.

*W 27 Danto's "Art World" Theory and Warhol's Brillo Box, ABQ 3
See the Warhol links and Danto links on the ArtLinks2 page.
Selections from Video, The Examined Life, to be screened. This was produced in Amsterdam in 1998. This video shows interviews with three philosophers speaking about art, including Arthur Danto. The video is beautifully illustrated with images from Picasso, Mondrian, Warhol, and others.
Notes on Danto's article
*Art Log #3 Due

MARCH

M 3 Begin Freeland Chapter 3 Cultural Crossings
See Art Links for Chapter 3
Richard L. Anderson, From Calliope's Sisters (on Eskimo Art), in ABQ 2.
Video selections on Inuit sculptors and printmakers in northeastern Canada.
Paper 2 Topics

W 5 **Paper 2 Due Date (on Unit 2)
D.T. Suzuki, "Zen and the Art of Tea," Ch. 5 in ABQ
Video selection on Buddhist aesthetics in Japan, including martial arts and the tea ceremony.

M 10 W. Msosa Mwale, "Form and Style in a Likhuba Master Dancer," in ABQ 35
Video selection: Dance at Court, including dance in Ghana.

W 12 Begin Freeland Chapter 4 Money, Markets, Museums
See also Art Links4 page
See also Lecture Notes for this chapter.
In class examples from Komar and Melamid, "Most Wanted Paintings" (Website and Book).

17-22 NO CLASS/SPRING BREAK

M 24 David Hume, "Essay on Taste," ABQ 14
Pierre Bourdieu, "From Distinction", ABQ 15.

*W 26 Lecture on Museums and Markets (illustrated)
*Art Log #4 Due

M 31 Hilde Hein, "Museums, From Object to Experience", ABQ 11

APRIL

W 2 Paper Three Topics
Begin Freeland Chapter 5, Gender, Genius, and Guerilla Girls
See Art Links for Chapter 5.
Linda Nochlin, "Why Are There No Great Women Artists?", ABQ 33

M** 7 **Paper 3 Due (on Units 3-4).
Carol Duncan, "The MoMA's Hot Mamas", ABQ 12
Illustrations in class: Pollock, de Kooning, Picasso

**W 9 Rozsika Parker and Griselda Pollock, "Crafty Women and the Hierarchy of the Arts", ABQ 4
Outline of key points in "Crafty Women"
Illustrations in class: Amish quilts, Women Artists, Textiles and Tapestries, Native American women's pottery, Navajo Blankets, Huichol art, etc.
*Art Log #5 Due

M 14 Begin Freeland Chapter 6, Cognition and Creation
See Art Links for Chapter 6
Foucault, "What Is An Author?" ABQ 34
Illustrations and discussion of Velazquez's painting Las Meninas, the example given by Foucault in The Order of Things

*W 16 More on Foucault; Examples of Francis Bacon's Works (See Artlinks page for more)
Video selection from Love is the Devil,, film about Francis Bacon
More discussion of interpretation in art

M 21 The Brain's Role in Perceiving Art
Lecture by Dr. Freeland covering recent books and articles by neuroscientists V.S. Ramachandran and Seymir Zeki.
Background Reading: Dr. Freeland's essay, "Teaching Cognitive Science and Visual Art"
See also Art and the Mind-Brain, a course taught at Washington University, St. Louis, by Professor Mark Rollins.

*W 23 Begin Freeland Chapter 7, Digitizing and Dissemination
See Art Links for Chapter 7.
*Art Log #6 Due

**M 28 **Paper 4 Due (on Units 5-6).
Jean Baudrillard and Post-Modern Theory
Baudrillard Quotes
Also of interest: "The Spirit of Terrorism," Baudrillard's controversial article on the bombing of the World Trade Center
See discussion by Chris Knipp, "The Matrix,a French Philosopher, and the Events of September 11", from the Baltimore Sun and Sentinel
Illustrations in class of postmodern art and digital art; conclusions.

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Last updated March 4, 2008