Course description:
In this seminar, we will be asking all kinds of questions concerning the value of beauty: Is the experience of beauty merely a source of pleasure or does it contribute to our overall well-being and flourishing? Can we gain self-knowledge from aesthetic experiences that cannot be gained otherwise? Does our relationship to beauty contribute to our moral character? Does it make us better members of society? If the answer to even some of these question is yes, how do we pursue and cultivate our relationship with beauty?

We will be looking for these answers by reflecting on our own experiences and discussing our reflections as a group, looking to historical and contemporary figures on how they have answered these questions, and cultivating new experiences in light of these questions (meaning we get to experience beauty in nature and art as a part of the class!!).

Week 1 (Historical)
M: Plato, Republic Book X and Murdoch, Sovereignty of Good (Class Might be held Outside)
Reflecting first on the individuals' relationship to beauty, in nature and in art, do you think beauty has value?
If so, what is the value of beauty? Why does it matter? Does its value have to do with us or doesit have independent value?
If not, why doesn't it matter?
In what ways has beauty been a vehicle for learning truth? In what ways has beauty been deceptive?

T: Aristotle, Poetics (Selections)
How does the value of beauty reflect what the philosophers' see as the source of knowledge?
What are the roles of pity and fear for Aristotle?
What is an example of a work of art that, though fiction, has taught you something perhaps `profound? What did it teach you?
What is an example of a work of art that allowed you a catharsis? 

W: David Hume, “Of the Standards of Taste” (Class visit to Wellin museum)
How, according to Hume, can we tell if something has artistic value?
How do you think you can tell if something has artistic value?
Give a concrete example of one of Hume's obstructions to accessing artistic value? Do you agree that this is genuinely an obstruction? Why or why not?
Who is your aesthetic role model? Is it the same as Hume's? Why or why not?

R: Immanuel Kant, Critique of the Power of Judgment (selections)
The Four Moments of Taste, Intellectual Interest as a Mark of Moral Character, Beauty as a Symbol of Morality

F: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature (class visit to on-campus nature site)
In "Nature," how does Emerson describe how we ought to aesthetically appreciate nature? Does this sound familiar to your own experience? Do you agree?
In "The Poet," Emerson distinguishes between the Umpire of Taste and the poet or the genius (starting in the very first paragraph). What is the difference between the two? Is there anyone in your own life that is like an umpire of taste? If not, does it remind you of any thinker in this class? Anyone who is like a poet? Do you agree with his assessment as to which one is better?

Week 2 (Contemporary)
M: Julianne Chung, “The Oneness Hypothesis of Aesthetic Obligation”
Are we getting a full aesthetic experience without the tangible object of aesthetic attention? What is the object of aesthetic attention? Are we responsible to aesthetic objects or only to ourselves?

T: Yuriko Saito, “Ethical Dimension of Aesthetic Engagement”

W: Carolyn Korsemeyer, “Aesthetic Pleasures,” Ch. 2 of Gender and Aesthetics

R: Peg Brand,“Disinterestedness and Political Art” in Carolyn Korsmeyer’s Aesthetics:                                                                                                       The Big Questions. (Visit to Local Museum) focus on what it is to view art as interested and disinterested and the upshot in politically charged art

F: Paul Taylor, “Beauty to Set the World Right: The Politics of Black Aesthetics,” Ch. 3 of Black is Beautiful:                                                                A Philosophy of Black Aesthetics
Wrap up on the value of beauty, the moral, the social, the political