Dr. Cynthia Freeland, University of Houston

Seminar in Philosophy of Art

Spring 2003

Negative Aesthetics

The seminar will deal with a variety of aesthetic phenomena involving negative or painful experiences. We will read philosophical texts from various time periods that have attempted to explain the reasons for our interest in such phenomena. Topics will include tragedy (and Aristotle’s Poetics), the sublime (as treated by Burke and Kant), horror (as discussed by Noel Carroll and Cynthia Freeland), and disgust (treated by Carolyn Korsmeyer in relation to recent visual and performance art). Students will be expected to do an oral report and research paper focusing on one of these phenomena.

Proposed Schedule

Jan 16 Introduction; Ancient Greek tragedy

Jan 23 Poetics/Tragedy/Plot and Character; Readings: Aristotle, Freeland

Jan 30 Poetics/Tragedy/Pity and Fear; Readings: Nehamas

Feb 6 Poetics/Tragedy/Katharsis Reading: Lear, Curran

Bibliography on the Poetics:

http://www.uh.edu/~cfreelan/courses/aesthetics/PoeticsReadings.htm

Feb 13 The Sublime: Burke

Feb 20 The Sublime: Kant

Feb 27 The Sublime: Kant

Bibliography on the Sublime:

http://www.uh.edu/~cfreelan/courses/aesthetics/SublimeBibliography.htm

Mar 6 SPRING BREAK/NO CLASS

Mar 13 No Class; Prof. Freeland out of town

Bibliography on Horror:

http://www.uh.edu/~cfreelan/courses/aesthetics/SublimeBibliography.htm

Mar. 20 Horror/Carroll/Paradox of fiction (Walton)

Mar 27 Horror/Carroll

April 3 Horror/Solomon

April 10 Horror/Freeland/Others

April 17 Disgust/Korsmeyer

April 24 Disgust/Korsmeyer; Devereaux, The Ugly

May 1 (if agreeable as make-up day) Disgust/Conclusions