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2020/2021

Philosophy of Art

Code: 100290 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500246 Philosophy FB 1 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Jessica Patricia Jaques Pi
Email:
Jessica.Jaques@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Other comments on languages

A més del català, són benvingudes com a llengües a l'aula i als processos avaluatoris: castellà, francès, anglés, italià, portugués i alemany.

Teachers

Miquel Molins Nubiola
Gerard Vilar Roca
David Jorge Casacuberta Sevilla
Yaiza Ágata Bocos Mirabella
Ager Perez Casanovas
Eva Maria Jiménez Moreno
Valentín Roma Serrano

External teachers

Andrea Soto
Bárbara Bayarri
Clara Laguillo
Laura Vilar
Sara Gómez

Prerequisites

There are no further requirements apart from the common access requirements for the Philosophy BA.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This module aims at immersing students in the Philosophy of Art and, from this, in Philosophy in general, and a first habituation to and contact with the vocabulary, the arguments, the texts, the creative processes and the images of first reference within of these areas, from a hybridation of discourses and practices.

 

Objectives

The general objective of the subject is that the student knows and is passionate about the area of intersection between art and philosophy, that is: to discover the philosophical potential of the arts, as well as the transitivity between the discourse on these and the creative activity, which we will name poiesis: a doing from the discourse, and a discourse from the practice. It is for this reason that the subject belongs vocationally to applied aesthetics.

The specific objectives of the subject are:

  1. Developing the students' passion for the arts and other aesthetic practices
  2. Acquiring arguments and vocabulary to understand and explain the philosophical potential of the arts and the creative potential of philosophy
  3. Knowing some fundamental readings for objectives 1 and 2
  4. Getting to know the fundamental periods of the confluence between art and philosophy, as well as the affinities with other kinds of knowledge
  5. Understanding some creative processes of the confluence between art and philosophy
  6. Knowing the main tensions between art, science and philosophy
  7. Understanding art as a place of construction and destruction of the public sphere
  8. Cultivating the aesthetic sense of the students as a requisite for knowledge and openness to the world, as well as for the passion for the arts
  9. Developing first configurations of projects in applied aesthetics
  10. Projection, if appropriate, of the knowledge of the subject to future TFG and other research and projects of the student

Competences

  • Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
  • Recognising and interpreting topics and problems of philosophy in its various disciplines.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Thinking in a critical and independent manner on the basis of the specific topics, debates and problems of philosophy, both historically and conceptually.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Applying philosophical rigour in a written text following the international quality standards.
  2. Arguing about several issues and philosophical problems for the purpose of different works and the assessment of the results.
  3. Autonomously searching, selecting and processing information both from structured sources (databases, bibliographies, specialized magazines) and from across the network.
  4. Correctly drawing up a previously analysed non-regulatory text.
  5. Correctly, accurately and clearly communicating the acquired philosophical knowledge in oral and written form.
  6. Demonstrating a personal stance over a problem or controversy of philosophical nature, or a work of philosophical research.
  7. Distinguishing and analysing representative texts of the main genres of the philosophical literature.
  8. Distinguishing the topics of philosophical relevance in current debates.
  9. Effectively communicating and applying the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
  10. Establishing relationships between science, philosophy, art, religion, politics, etc.
  11. Explaining the specific notions of the History of Philosophy.
  12. Expressing both orally and in written form, the issues and basic problems of the philosophical tradition.
  13. Organizing their own time and work resources: designing plans with priorities of objectives, calendars and action commitments.
  14. Reading basic philosophical text thoroughly.
  15. Recognising and implementing the following teamwork skills: commitment to teamwork, habit of cooperation, ability to participate in the problem solving processes.
  16. Recognising, with a critical eye, philosophical referents of the past and present and assessing its importance.
  17. Relating several ideas of the current philosophical debates.
  18. Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  19. Rewriting the stance of a typical philosophical author in a clear and precise manner.
  20. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
  21. Summarizing the main arguments of the analysed philosophical texts.
  22. Using suitable terminology when drawing up an academic text.

Content

The subject is presented in seventeen units in three thematic modules. There are fourteen compulsory readings, one per week. Their extension is usually limited.

 

MODULE I. Aesthetic practices and the origin of philosophy

           1. Ignorance as a philosophical requirement [* 1 RANCIÈRE, J., El maestro ignorante, chap. one]

           2. From Androgen to the deconstruction of gender [* 2 PLATO, Symposium: the "Androgen Myth"]

           3. Theater and philosophy: poiesis and catharsis; Clashes of genres and roles [** 1 ARISTÓFANES, Lysistrata]

            4. The desire for beauty and its subversive capacity: appearance, presence, event [* 3 PLATO, Symposium: "Discourse of Diotima"; ** 2 Desire in times of war: PICASSO, The desire caught by the tail]

            5. The dialogical creativity [*4 PLATO, Hipias mayor]

            6. Friendship [* 5 ARISTOTLE, book VIII of Nicomachean Ethics]

            7. Aesthetic practices and discursive practices: ecosystems and ethologies

           

MODULE II. The aesthetic practices and the late Enlightenment

            8. Sapere aude and the hegemony of the imagination [* 6 KANT, I., What is the Enlightenment?; ** 3 SWIFT, J., Gulliver's Travels; **4 VALLE INCLÁN, Luces de Bohemia]

            9. The encyclopedic project. Taste as the faculty of judgment [**5 VOLTAIRE, "Taste", Encyclopédie; **6 D'ALEMBERT, J. l R., "Preliminary Speech to the Encyclopedia]

            10. The political foundation of aesthetics [*7 KANT, I., Critique of the judgment § 40 i 60; *8 JAQUES, J. The aesthetic sense; **7 DELFOE, D., Robinson Crusoe]

            11. One's own life as a political creative project. The origin of the activist manifestos [* 9 Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the rights of women and citizens; ** 8 Wollstonecraft, M., Vindication of women's rights]

            12. Art and Revolution. Freedom, Equality, Fraternity. Aesthetic ideas and the faculties for creativity [* 10 KANT, I., Critique of judgment §§ 46-49]

 

MODULE III. Aesthetic practices and contemporaneity

            13. Inexhaustibility, creativity, ritual and failure [* 11 BALZAC, H., The unknown Masterpiece; ** 9 VALÉRY, P., Eupalinos or the architect]

            14. Otherness. [** 10 SARTRE, J-P., Huis clos; * 12 FOUCAULT, M., Heterotopies i el Cuerpo utópico; * 13 of BEAUVOIR, S., The second sex]

            15. The philosophical revolution of the artistic narrative: ecleticism and micrologies [** 11 FOUCAULT, M., "What is the Enlightenment?"]

            16. One's own life as a creative project: performativity, utopia and dystopia [**12 SARTRE, Les mots] 

            17. Creative agents: emancipation, enactivism and indiscipline [* 14 RANCIÈRE, J. The emancipated spectator cap. 1; ** 13 NOË, A., Strange Tools]

Methodology

The methodology is Neosocratic, that is: the generation and transfer of knowledge from the vindication of the formative potential of both students and teachers. It is directed from the Arteencurs Teaching Innovation Project, of which Jèssica Jaques is Principal Investigator. In this teaching innovation project several degrees are involved: Philosophy, History of Art, Musicology, Design, Dance and Choreography, with special attention to their intersection. Its scope of action is the path from formtion outside the classroom into the classroom, in this direction. The pedagogical model is Neosocratic. The scope is that of applied aesthetics, in an effort to professionalize philosophical-artistic projects of incidence in the public sphere.

The directed activities consist of classes with a high incentive of participation

Supervised activities consist of contributions in seminars and contributions by written tests, as well as visits to museums and art centers recommended at the beginning of the course and in the attempt to let discursive praxis be accompanied by an artistic praxis, according to the procedures of the Applied aesthetics. The student is also accompanied with a tutorial program that consists of working meetings in micro-groups or individually, following the personalized learning model of the tutorial system.

Autonomous activities have as an essential reference the reading of the texts of the program, and the conceptual work and application on and from these.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures, seminars, individual tutorials, small group teaching sessions 60 2.4 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, 12, 9, 22, 14, 20, 15, 4, 18, 21
Type: Supervised      
Artistic practice workshops, exhibition visits, artistic events, exams and participation in seminars 52.5 2.1
Type: Autonomous      
Readings, study of contents 28.5 1.14 3, 5, 6, 14, 13

Assessment

Assessment will be carried out continuously and evolutionarily. There will be three compulsory and one optional assessment items.

The compulsory ones will be : Tests 1 and 2 (Module 1 and 2, correspondingly) to be done at home. For the first test, the student will have chosen a creative practice, either their own or from a third person, that they will maintain throughout all assessments. The two tests will be sent by email one week before their submission. Test 3: a written text with documentation (if appropriate) of its video/audio/image record or of the literary texts of the modules of this course. Maxim. 3000 words. It will be submitted by email to the address <filosofiadelart@gmail.com>. If the student finds themselves in the situation of the digital gap, they will communicate it to Jèssica Jaques beforehand, before the deadline of the test, and an institutional solution will be proposed.

Optional assessment will consist in the handing-in of a text every 15 days since October 1st, which will be used as a preparation for the compulsory Test 3. The set of writings handed-in by the student will constitute their Logbook.

 

In principle and except for changes in the day to day of the Faculty or force majeure, the days of the tests/submissions are: October 15 (test 1), November 15 (test 2) and January 16 (test 3). The questions for tests 1 and 2 will be sent via email one week before the submission. The three compulsory tests will have the same value each - 2.5 points. That means a maximum of 7.5/10 in total. In addition, the student is invited to submit the optional Logbook that will be sent every two weeks to the address <filosofiadelart@gmail.com> under specific requirements and will be evaluated with a maximum of 2.5 points; submissions must be punctual and every two weeks from October 1, which means one submission each of the following dates: October 1, October 15, October 29, November 5, November 19, December 3, and December 17.these dates are deadlines and cannot be replaced for posterior dates. A follow-up on the submissions through tutorials in office hours is highly encouraged.

the final grade will not be the average of the three tests, but rather a final evaluation of the student's formative evolution will be made. 

The second-chance test, with date and place set by the Faculty, is reserved for students who have not done one of the tests (being compulsory to submit 2/3 tests) on the day indicated in the calendar or who have failed one, two or three compulsory test. Each test must be passed independently of the others.

The student's grade will be "not evaluable" if at the end of the process they have not submitted one, two or three compulsory tests.

The evaluation criteria will be:

  1. The pertinent selection of topics to be discussed when proposing the main questions of the philosophy of art from a work or other type of aesthetic reference
  2. The argumentative clarity
  3. The adequate use of the vocabulary related to the subject
  4. The manifestation of the understanding of the contents proposed in the theoretical sessions
  5. The manifestation of the understanding of the contents of the obligatory readings
  6. Writing style correction
  7. The ability to discuss with the group about the texts
  8. The audacity in the appropriation of the contents (sapere aude), that is to say, the appropriation of the contents
  9. In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

The ordinary revision will be carried out after each test until the date ofsubmission of the next test, during the usual office hours. The ordinary global revision of the course will be made on a specific day that will be indicated in January, and will take place in the office.

Students are encouraged to come to work in the office their aesthetic / artistic references and their logbooks. Once the subject is finished, you will be invited to contribute to the artencurs blog: <https://artencurs.wixsite.com/artencurs>

All the important indications will be written in Moodle, in order to leave a publicwritten record.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Logbook 25 % 2.5 0.1 2, 3, 5, 8, 7, 10, 11, 12, 9, 14, 13, 20, 19, 15, 16, 4, 17, 18
three tests (one per module) + logbook 25 % x 3 6.5 0.26 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 7, 10, 11, 12, 22, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21

Bibliography

  1. Compulsory readings [marked * in the program]

 

 [1] RANCIÈRE, J., El maestro ignorante. Barcelona, Laertes, 2003 (Le maître ignorant 1987, Cap 1)

[2] PLATÓ, Banquet. Barcelona, Ed. 62, 1998,  “Mite de l’Andrògin” (189e-193e)

[3] PLATÓ, Banquet. Barcelona, Ed. 62, 1998, el “Discurs de Diotima” (201d-212 b).

 [4]  ARISTÒTIL, llibre VIII de l’Ètica nicomaquea, Fundació Bernat Metge.

[5] KANT, I., ¿Qué es la Ilustración?. Barcelona, Paidós, 1989 (Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung?1784)

[6] KANT, I., Crítica de la facultat de jutjar, §§ 40 i 60. Barcelona, Ed. 62., 2004 (Kritik der Urteilskraft, 1790).

[7] Olympe de GOUGES, Declaració dels drets de la dona i de la ciutadana (1791). <http://www.culturamas.es/blog/2012/09/07/declaracion-de-los-derechos-de-la-mujer-y-de-la-ciudadana-1791-por-olympe-de-gouges/>

 [8] KANT, I., Crítica de la facultat de jutjar, §§ 46-49. Barcelona, Ed. 62., 2004 (Kritik der Urteilskraft, 1790).

 [9] BALZAC, H., L'obra mestre desconeguda . Barcelona, Quaderns Crema, 2018. (Le chef d'oeuvre inconnu, 1831)

[10] SARTRE, J. P., A porta tancada. Barcelona, Quaderns de Teatre, 1968 (Huis Clos, 1944)

[11] FOUCAULT, M. "¿Qué es la Ilustración?" Daimon. Revista de Filosofia 1993, n 7, 5-18

[12] SARTRE, J. P. , Els mots. Barcelona, Proa, 2005 (Les mots 1964).

[13] RANCIÈRE, J.  El espectador emancipado.Barcelona, Ed. Ellago, 2010 [Le spectateur émancipé, 2008]

 

2. Highly Recommended Readings [marked ** in the program]

[1] ARISTÒFANES, Lisístrata. Fundació Bernat Metge. (Trad. Josep Montserrat)

[2] Jaume Plensa: https://jaumeplensa.com/

[3] PICASSO, El desig atrapat per la cua. Barcelona–Madrid, Museu Picasso de Barcelona–La Fábrica, 2018. (Trad. Jèssica Jaques; Le désir attrapé par la queue, 1944)

[4] PLATÓ, Hipias major. Fundació bernat Metge.

[5] SWIFT, J., Els viatges de GulliverGalaxia Gütemberg, 2006 [Gulliver’s Travels, 1726] 

[6] VALLE INCLÁN, Luces de Bohemia, Madrid, Austral, 2010.

[7] VOLTAIRE, Jean Françoisois-Marie Arouet de Voltaire, « Goût ». "Taste." In The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert, Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by  Thomas Cassirer. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Library, 2003. Originally published as"Goût," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonnedes sciences, des arts et des metiers(Paris 1757, Vol. 7. pp. 761-77). <https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/L%E2%80%99Encyclop%C3%A9die/1re_%C3%A9dition/GOUT>

[8] D'ALEMBERT, J. l R., "Discours préliminaire" à l'Encyclopédie <https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/L%E2%80%99Encyclop%C3%A9die/1re_%C3%A9dition/Discours_pr%C3%A9liminaire>

[9] JAQUES, J. "El sentit estètic". Disturbis 3http://www.disturbis.esteticauab.org/Disturbis234/Jaques.html

[10] DELFOE, D., Robinson Crusoe. Barcelona, La Galera, 2009 [1719]

[11] WOLLSTONECRAFT, M., Vindicación de los derechos de la mujer.Madrid,Akal, 2014 [Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792]

[12] VALÉRY, P., Eupalinos o l’arquitecte. Barcelona, Quaderns Crema, 1983 [Eupalinos ou l’architecte, 1921).

[13] FOUCAULT, "Topologías", Fractal 2006 [1967]. y FLUSSER, V. Hacía una filosofía de la fotografía. Méjico D.F., Sigma, 1990.

[14] de BEAUVOIR, S., El segundo sexo. Madrid, Diálogo, 2012 [Le deuxième sexe. 1941]

[15] NOË, A.,StrangeTools.<http://www.alvanoe.com/strange-tools/>

 

3. Further Readings

NIETZSCHE, F.,El naixement de la Tragèdia. Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 1995(DieGeburd der Tragödie 1872).

REZA, Y. Arte. Anagrama 1999 (Art, 1994)

YOURCENAR, M., Memòries d’Adrià. Barcelona, ed. 62, 2007 (Mémoires d’Hadrien, 1951)

WILDE, O.El retrato de Dorian Grey. Imaginador,Buenos Aires (The Picture of Doran Grey)1890).

 

 4.  Selected secondary bibliography

ARNHEIM, R., Arte y percepción visual, Alianza Forma, Madrid, 2002

BARASCH, Moshe, Teorías del Arte: De Platón a Winckelmann, Alianza, Madrid, 1991; Modern Theories of Art, 1: From Winckelmann to Baudelaire, New York

University Press, New York, 1990; Modern Theories of Art, 2: From Impressionism to Kandinsky, New York University press, New York and London, 1998.

BOZAL, Valeriano, Historia de las ideas estéticas I i II, Historia 16, Madrid 1998; (ed.), Historia de las ideas estéticas y de las teorías artísticas contemporáneas. Visor, Madrid, 1996.

CARROLL, N.,  Philosophy of Art. Routledge, 1999.

CASACUBERTA, D., Nueve escollos para entender la cultura digital

Enrahonar:Quaderns de filosofía, ISSN 0211-402X, <ahref="http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/listaarticulos?tipo_busqueda=EJEMPLAR&revista_busqueda=494&clave_busqueda=24703">Nº 32-33, 2001, pags. 235-244

DAVIS, s., The Philosophy of Art. Blackwell, 2006.

DANTO, Arthur C., El abuso de la belleza. La estética y elconcepto del arte. Paidós, Barcelona, 2005.

DANTO,A.,  “Laobra de arte y el futuro histórico”, La madonna del futuro. Paidós, Barcelona, 2003(2000).

DANTO, Artur, Las transfiguraciones del lugar común.Barcelona, Paidós 2002

FISHER, E., La necesidad del arte. Barcelona,Nexos, 1993 (1959)

GAUT, B. _LOPES, D. (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics. Second Edition, Routledge, 2005.

GOMBRICH, E. H., Breve historia de la cultura, Ediciones Península, Barcelona, 2004.

GOMBRICH, E. H., La historia del arte. Madrid, Phaidon (1950).

GOMBRICH, E. H., Art and Illusion. London, Phaidon Press (1985). Chapters 3 and 10.

GUASCH, Anna Maria (coord.), La crítica de arte, Ediciones del Serbal, Barcelona, 2003.

JAUSS, H. R., Pequeña apología de la experiencia estética. Barcelona, Paidós, 2002 (1972)

JIMENEZ, M.,  ¿Qué es la estética?, Barcelona, Idea Books, 1999.

JIMÉNEZ, J.,Teoría del Arte, Tecnos, Madrid, 2002.

KELLY, M., (ed.), Oxford Enciclopedia of  Aesthetics, 1998. 2a edició, 2014.

KIERAN, M., (ed.), Contempory Debates in Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art. Blackwell, 2006.

KRIS, E. i KURZ, O., La Leyenda del artista, EnsayosArte Cátedra, Madrid, 1982.

LAMARQUE,P.,– H. OLSEN, H., (eds.), Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art. The Analytic Tradition. An Anthology.  Oxford, Blackwell, 2004.

LYNCH, Enrique, Sobrela belleza. Anaya, Madrid, 1999.

LEVINSON, J.,Oxford Handbook ofAesthetics. 2003.

LORCA, F. G. Piero Menarini, ed. El maleficio de la mariposa. Cátedra, Madrid, 2003.

MURRAY, Chris, Key Writers on art: From Antiquity to the Ninetenth Century, Routledge,Londonand new York, 2003; Pensadores clave sobre el arte:el siglo XX. Ensayos arteCátedra, Madrid 2006.

SHINER, Larry, La invención del arte, Paidós Estética 36, Barcelona, 2004.

RAMIREZ, Juan Antonio, Ecosistema y explosión de las artes. Anagrama, Barcelona 1994.

TATARKIEWICZ, E.,  Historia  de  seis  ideas. Madid, Taurus, 1987 (1976)

VALVERDE, J. M., Breve historia y antología de la estética, Barcelona, Ariel.

VILAR, G.,  Las razones del arte. Madrid, Antonio Machado, 2005.

 

 

 5. Online sources

 greta.cat/grau

www.disturbis.net

https://vimeo.com/instituthumanitatsbcn

www.museupicasso.bcn.es

http://fundaciomiro-bcn.org

http://www.macba.cat

www.fundaciotapies.org

www.museoreinasofia.es

www.museodelprado.es

www.tate.org.uk/modern

<ahref="http://www.centrepompidou.fr">www.centrepompidou.fr

<ahref="http://www.palaisdetokyo.com">www.palaisdetokyo.com

www.moma.org

https://www.edx.org/

http://www.canal-u.tv/producteurs/universite_de_tous_les_savoirs

https://www.ted.com/talks

https://www.franceculture.fr/

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arte