History of Aesthetics
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The "History of Aesthetics" course aims to introduce students to the main concepts and authors of Western aesthetics, from antiquity to the present day, through a direct reading of classical texts belonging to this philosophical branch. After an introductory part examining the rise and evolution of the discipline, the course focuses, from year to year, on a specific topic of paradigmatic value for aesthetic reflection. The overall objective is to provide students with a historical overview of the main issues at stake in the theories of perception and image (not only artistic) while ensuring the acquisition of the theoretical and methodological tools necessary to critically engage with current phislosphical debates.
Expected learning outcomes
- Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, students should have learned the historical-conceptual paths that led to the birth and evolution of Western aesthetics as a specific philosophical discipline. They are expected to have become familiar with the aesthetic lexicon and the main aesthetic categories. They should have understood the role of aesthetics in the general context of human experience, with particular emphasis on the most recent debates.
- Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
The course will enhance the analytical and synthetic ability to understand and critically read some of the fundamental texts in aesthetics. Students will use the acquired competencies to interpret aesthetic phenomena in a society characterized by the increasingly pervasive use of images. Through common discussion of the issues covered, they will develop their expressive and argumentative skills. They will also be able to relate aesthetic theories to other fields of knowledge such as media theory, cultural studies, the history of ideas, and the ethics and politics of images.
At the end of the course, students should have learned the historical-conceptual paths that led to the birth and evolution of Western aesthetics as a specific philosophical discipline. They are expected to have become familiar with the aesthetic lexicon and the main aesthetic categories. They should have understood the role of aesthetics in the general context of human experience, with particular emphasis on the most recent debates.
- Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
The course will enhance the analytical and synthetic ability to understand and critically read some of the fundamental texts in aesthetics. Students will use the acquired competencies to interpret aesthetic phenomena in a society characterized by the increasingly pervasive use of images. Through common discussion of the issues covered, they will develop their expressive and argumentative skills. They will also be able to relate aesthetic theories to other fields of knowledge such as media theory, cultural studies, the history of ideas, and the ethics and politics of images.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
"The Frame as an Aesthetic Device"
The course aims to investigate the philosophical problem of the frame and the procedures of framing, and how it has been analysed from the 18th century to the present day. From Moritz to Kant, from Husserl to Ortega y Gasset, from Simmel to Goffman up to the most recent contributions in terms of mediology, the theme of the frame has played, and continues to play, an important role in the history of aesthetics and the arts, also and perhaps above all when the theoretical principles on which the use of frames relies are challenged.
After a general introduction aimed at providing the historical-conceptual coordinates of aesthetics as a philosophical discipline (Part A), the course focuses on traditional conceptions of the frame (Part B) and the role of the frame in contemporary immersive environments (Part C).
ATTENTION: students have 7 exam attempts per course within an academic year.
The course aims to investigate the philosophical problem of the frame and the procedures of framing, and how it has been analysed from the 18th century to the present day. From Moritz to Kant, from Husserl to Ortega y Gasset, from Simmel to Goffman up to the most recent contributions in terms of mediology, the theme of the frame has played, and continues to play, an important role in the history of aesthetics and the arts, also and perhaps above all when the theoretical principles on which the use of frames relies are challenged.
After a general introduction aimed at providing the historical-conceptual coordinates of aesthetics as a philosophical discipline (Part A), the course focuses on traditional conceptions of the frame (Part B) and the role of the frame in contemporary immersive environments (Part C).
ATTENTION: students have 7 exam attempts per course within an academic year.
Prerequisites for admission
None.
Teaching methods
Frontal lessons with PPT slides; critical reading of the texts; classroom discussions; projections of schemes, images and videos.
Teaching Resources
· ATTENDING STUDENTS (6 CFU=4' hrs)
- A.G. Baumgarten, I. Kant, Il battesimo dell'Estetica, ETS 2008.
- I. Kant, Critica della ragion pura, Laterza (Introduzione + Estetica trascendentale).
- D. Ferrari, A. Pinotti (a cura di), La cornice. Storie, teorie, testi, Johan&Levi 2018.
· ATTENDING STUDENTS (9 CFU=60 hrs)
The programme for attending students (6 CFU) is integrated with the following articles from the journal "Fata Morgana" 39:
- E. Terrone, L'inquadratura e il campo visivo
- A. Pinotti, Autopsia in 360°. Il rigor mortis dell'empatia nel fuori-cornice del virtuale
- A.C. Dalmasso, I nuovi limiti della visione. Cornice e fuori campo
tra soggettiva e realtà virtuale
- P. Conte, Entrare nella cornice. Dal sogno di Kurosawa al cinema VR
***
Non-attending students (6 CFU):
The programme for attending students (6 CFU) is integrated with the following:
- E. Goffman, Frame Analysis: l'organizzazione dell'esperienza, Armando 2013.
Non-attending students (9 CFU):
The programme for attending students (9 CFU) is integrated with the following:
- E. Goffman, Frame Analysis: l'organizzazione dell'esperienza, Armando 2013.
- P. Conte, Unframing Aesthetics, Mimesis International 2020.
- A.G. Baumgarten, I. Kant, Il battesimo dell'Estetica, ETS 2008.
- I. Kant, Critica della ragion pura, Laterza (Introduzione + Estetica trascendentale).
- D. Ferrari, A. Pinotti (a cura di), La cornice. Storie, teorie, testi, Johan&Levi 2018.
· ATTENDING STUDENTS (9 CFU=60 hrs)
The programme for attending students (6 CFU) is integrated with the following articles from the journal "Fata Morgana" 39:
- E. Terrone, L'inquadratura e il campo visivo
- A. Pinotti, Autopsia in 360°. Il rigor mortis dell'empatia nel fuori-cornice del virtuale
- A.C. Dalmasso, I nuovi limiti della visione. Cornice e fuori campo
tra soggettiva e realtà virtuale
- P. Conte, Entrare nella cornice. Dal sogno di Kurosawa al cinema VR
***
Non-attending students (6 CFU):
The programme for attending students (6 CFU) is integrated with the following:
- E. Goffman, Frame Analysis: l'organizzazione dell'esperienza, Armando 2013.
Non-attending students (9 CFU):
The programme for attending students (9 CFU) is integrated with the following:
- E. Goffman, Frame Analysis: l'organizzazione dell'esperienza, Armando 2013.
- P. Conte, Unframing Aesthetics, Mimesis International 2020.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The learning objectives of the course will be tested through a 20/30-minute oral exam aimed at evaluating whether students know and understand the main concepts introduced during the course, and if they are able to link the various topics and issues that the course itself has covered. Questions are also intended to test the students' ability in communicating the different positions with clarity and pertinence as well as critical awareness.
Unita' didattica
M-FIL/04 - AESTHETICS - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Unita' didattica
M-FIL/04 - AESTHETICS - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)