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 on beauty and taste • literary interpretation • emotional expression in music • theories and definitions of artThis podcast is a lecture series on aesthetics and the philosophy of art, taught by an Oxford philosophy lecturer. It surveys influential approaches to art and beauty in the Western philosophical tradition and then shifts to contemporary-style problems about how artworks are understood and what makes something a work of art.
Across the series, the lectures engage major historical texts and debates, including classical Greek philosophy on art’s value and effects, ancient literary theory about poetry and dramatic structure, and early modern discussions of aesthetic judgment and taste. A significant portion is devoted to Immanuel Kant’s treatment of aesthetic experience, examining how judgments of beauty and artistic merit can be made and what kind of normativity—if any—such judgments involve.
The later lectures focus on interpretive and definitional questions central to philosophy of art. They consider how literary works should be interpreted, what counts as a good or justified interpretation, and what role authorial intention, textual meaning, and reader response might play. The series also addresses how music can express emotion and what it means to attribute feelings to purely auditory structures. It culminates in philosophical attempts to define art, weighing different criteria that might distinguish artworks from other objects or activities and exploring the challenges posed by diverse artistic practices.
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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 |