Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Lecture series on Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art. The first part of the series focuses on some of the most important writings on art and beauty in the Western philosophical tradition, covering Plato, Aristotle, David Hume, and Immanuel Kant. The second part of the series focuses on questions about understanding works of art and about the nature of art. This part examines the interpretation of literature, the expression of emotion in music, and the definition of artThemes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Western aesthetics and philosophy of art • Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Kant • beauty and taste judgments • Kant’s Critique of Judgment • interpreting literature • musical emotion expression • defining art, nature of artworksThis podcast presents a lecture series on aesthetics and the philosophy of art, moving from foundational texts in the Western tradition to contemporary-style philosophical questions about how art works and what it is. The lectures survey major historical positions on art, beauty, and taste by engaging with key figures such as Plato and Aristotle and then turning to early modern and modern accounts, including Hume’s attempt to explain how judgments of taste might have a “standard” and Kant’s analysis of aesthetic judgment in the *Critique of Judgment*. Across these discussions, the focus is on how philosophers have tried to explain the distinctive character of aesthetic evaluation, the role of pleasure and disinterestedness, and the ways critical judgment might be justified.
The later portion of the series shifts from historical exegesis to problems in interpretation and definition. It examines how literary works can be interpreted and what constraints—authorial intention, textual meaning, and reader response—might shape legitimate readings. It also addresses how music can express emotion and what it could mean for a non-linguistic art to convey or represent feelings. The series culminates in a sustained look at the problem of defining art, considering what features (such as form, intention, institutional context, or function) might distinguish artworks from non-art objects and activities. Overall, the content is geared toward philosophical analysis of art forms, aesthetic judgment, and the conceptual boundaries of art.
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8. Defining Art 2011-Mar-15 52 minutes |
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7. Musical Expression 2011-Mar-15 52 minutes |
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6. Literary Interpretation 2011-Mar-15 54 minutes |
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5. Kant's Critique of Judgement: Lecture 2 2011-Mar-15 53 minutes |
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4. Kant's Critique of Judgement: Lecture 1 2011-Mar-15 55 minutes |
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3. Hume and the Standard of Taste 2011-Mar-15 55 minutes |
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2. Aristotle's Poetics 2011-Mar-15 55 minutes |
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1. Plato's Philosophy of Art 2011-Mar-15 54 minutes |