Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Aesthetics I
Teaching staff
To make an appointment with the professor, please write an email.
Introduction
This subject aims for the student to acquire specific knowledge about the origin, evolution and different fields of Aesthetics history; as well as the topics, vocabulary and classical debates of the discipline. The student will go through the main authors and their texts to articulate the thought on the main ideas of the discipline.
This methodology aims for the student to have a good knowledge of critical tools to understand and build Aesthetics history and think over fundamental categories transversely.
Pre-course requirements
There are no previous requisites
Objectives
The subject's goals are:
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To know the history of the school of thought and culture.
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To know the fundamental periods of the Art and Philosphy confluence, as well as the affinities with other kinds of thinking.
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To understand the human dimension in the aesthetical experience
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To gain knowledge out of texts' analysis
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- E02 - Ability to use methods and techniques specific to human sciences.
- E23 - Ability to use computer resources and techniques to produce essays on cultural topics.
- E24 - Ability to present the results of research project in accordance with the standards of each subject area.
- E26 - Ability to read and write texts in one's own language and other languages, as well as transcribe, summarise and categorise pertinent information.
- E32 - Ability to manage cultural heritage conservation projects
- E34 - Ability to create educational resources in the Cultural sphere.
- E35 - To acquire basic skills related to the management of financial resources in cultural organisations and projects.
- G01 - To analyse and interpret social and cultural environments to identify need, opportunities, weaknesses and strenghts..
Learning outcomes of the subject
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To recognize fundamental ideas of the authors learnt in class and to be able to make a powerful introduction.
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To understand Aesthetics' origin in the frame of its cultural context.
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To build connections between different artistical disciplines in the frame of philosophical thought.
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To know about the main debate on Beauty and Art carried out by the authors, artists, academics, philosophers and Art critics.
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To recognize humanistical references from the past to understand their actual influence.
Syllabus
Syllabus
Introduction
What is aesthetics?
The study of what is beautiful
An historical approach to the aesthetics
Theme 1. Beauty of nature
Nature reflecting the human soul
Nature as the face of divinity
The creator strength of nature
Theme 2. What is beauty?
Beauty and perfection
Useless beauty
Define beauty. History
The most sublime of what humans are capable
Experience, heritage, culture, concept
What no one sees
Theme 3. The human necessity of beauty
How it affects the spirit
The feelings towards beauty
Peace
Theme 4. Beauty, Truth and Goodness
Beauty and the good
Goodness as a condition to see the beautiful
Beauty and order
Beauty and proportion
Canons and rules
Theme 5. Beauty and love
Beauty is the object of love
Eros leads toward beauty
The universal harmony is a loving one
Theme 6: The aesthetical judgement
Judgement and interest
The right judgement
The mature judgement
The rational judgement
Judgement and taste
Theme 7. Beauty of people
Beauty of the soul
From internal beauty to external beauty
Beauty and gesture
First impressions
The face and the mask
Human face as poetical expression
Theme 8. Spiritual Beauty
The intelligent beauty
Reason and passion
Beauty redeems
The ecstasy
Beyond mere perception
Theme 9. Beauty and Freedom
Schiller: freedom in appearance is beauty
An internal law
Theme 10. The beautiful and the sublime
The origin of the idea of beauty
The contrast between two concepts
The romantic vision
The romantic comprehension of the Antique sublime
Theme 11. The form
Perfection is the form of some matter
The aesthetical pleasure comes from the form
The Gestalt school
Theme 12. Art
The creator self-conscience
The creator spirit
The artist
To create a work of art is to fund a world
The human dimension of art
The inspiration
Is art everything we call so?
Theme 13. The ugly
The meaning of the distance between the ugly and the beautiful
The function of ugliness on art
Aesthetics of fear
Teaching and learning activities
In person
a) Reading of some key texts
b) Text commentary
c) Discussion of some examples
d) Practical exercises of analysis and reflexion
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
1. Work in the classroom 25%
3. Work on texts and images 25%
4. Final Exam 50%
ADVICE NOTES
1. In this course it is very important to make proper use of language in written tests, essays and oral presentations, both from the point of view of grammar and spelling and punctuation and wording. A proper use of terms specific to the discipline is also particularly relevant. The criteria to be followed before any of these errors is as follows: 0.25 will be lowered for misspelling or incorrect words in essays and exams.
2. Advice on plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of material appropriated from another source or from other sources with the intention of passing it off as one’s own work. Plagiarism may take the form of unacknowledged quotes or substantial paraphrasing. Sources of material include all printed and electronically-available publications in English or other languages, or unpublished materials, including theses, written by others.
To avoid plagiarism, you must quote the source whenever ideas written by another person are used and even if the quote is not direct and is paraphrasing or summarising someone else’s ideas. In direct quotes, one must use quotation marks and quote the source. In an academic essay, it is not enough to generally record the literature used, but it is necessary to explicitly mention the source where ideas written by someone else come from.
Plagiarism in written essays for this course is unacceptable and, therefore, any work in which plagiarism is committed will be evaluated with a zero.
Bibliography and resources
ALBERTI, Leon Battista; Los diez libros de Arquitectura, Albatros, Madrid 1977
ARGULLOL, Rafael; Sabiduría de la ilusión, Taurus, Madrid 1994
BALTHASAR, Hans Urs von; Gloria. Una estética teológica, Encuentro, Madrid, 1985-1989
BARASCH, Moshe; Teorías del arte de Platón a Winckelmann, Alianza, Madrid, 1991
BOSCH, M.; El poder de la belleza, EUNSA, Pamplona 2015
BRUYNE, E.; La estética de la edad media. Madrid: Visor, 1994.
BURKE, Edmund; Indagación filosófica sobre el origen de nuestras ideas acerca de lo sublime y lo bello, Tecnos, Madrid 1997
CROCE, Benedetto; Breviario de Estética, Espasa Calpe, Madrid 1967
ECO, U. Art i bellesa en l'estètica medieval. Barcelona: Destino, 1990.
FEBRER, Mateo; Filosofía De la belleza y del arte, Instituto de Teología y Humanismo, Barcelona 1993
FICINO, Marsilio; Sobre el amor. Comentario al banquete de Platón, Tecnos, Madrid, 1994
GADAMER, Hans Georg; La actualidad de lo bello. El arte como juego, símbolo y fiesta, Paidós, Barcelona 1991
___ , Estética y hermenéutica, Tecnos, Madrid 1998
GENTILE, Giovanni; Filosofía de l’arte in compendio ad uso delle scuole, Sansón, Firenze 1934
GOMBRICH, Ernst Hans; La imagen y el ojo, Debate, Madrid 2000
GONZÁLEZ OCHOA, César; La Música del universo: apuntes sobre la noción de armonía en Platón, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, México D.F. 1994
HEGEL, Georg Wilhelm; De lo bello y sus formas, Espasa Calpe, Madrid 1985
___ , Introducción a la Estética, Península, Madrid 1997
HEIDEGGER, Martin; Arte y Poesía, Fondo de Cultura Económico, Madrid 1999
HUTCHESON, Francis; Una investigación sobre el origen de nuestra idea de belleza, Tecnos, Madrid 1992
JAUSS, Hans Robert; La experiencia estética, Taurus, Madrid 1986
KANDINSKY, Wassily; De lo espiritual en el arte, Labor, Barcelona 1995
LABRADA, M A, Estética, EUNSA, Pamplona 1998
KANT, Immanuel; Lo bello y lo sublime, Tecnos, Madrid
LONGINO, De lo sublime, (Manuel Pérez Valderrábano Trad.), Madrid 1770
MIRABENT i VILAPLANA, Francesc de P.; De la bellesa. Iniciació als problemes de l’estética, disciplina filosòfica, Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Barcelona 1936
ORTEGA Y GASSET, José; La deshumanización del arte, Alianza, Madrid 2002
PACIOLI, Luca; La divina proporción, Akal, Madrid 1991
PANOFSKY, Erwin; Idea, Cátedra, Madrid 1998
PUIG i GRAU, Arnau; Escrits d’estètica: filosofies, Els llibres de Glauco, Barcelona 1987
PLAZAOLA, Juan; Introducción a la estética: historia, teoría y textos, Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao, 1991
PLOTINO, Enéadas, Madrid, Gredos (3 vols, diversos años)
SANTAYANA, George; El sentido de la belleza. Un esbozo de teoría estética. Tecnos, Madrid 1999
SCHILLER, Friedrich; Kallias. Cartas sobre la educación estética del hombre, Anthropos, Barcelona 1990
, Sobre la gracia y la dignidad, Icaria, Barcelona 1985
SCHELLING, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von; La relación del arte con la naturaleza, Biblioteca Nueva, Madrid 2003
TATARKIEWICZ, w.; Historia de la estética, Akal, Madrid 1990
TRÍAS, Lo bello y lo siniestro, Ariel, Barcelona 2001
VALVERDE, J.M.; Breve historia y antología de la estética. Madrid: Ariel, 2011.
YARZA, I.; Introducción a la estética. Navarra: EUNSA, 2004
ZECCHI, Stefano; La belleza, Tecnos, Madrid 1994