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Aesthetics

Code: 100277 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Philosophy OB 2

Contact

Name:
Andrea Lorena Soto Calderon
Email:
andrea.soto@uab.cat

Teachers

Marta Tafalla Gonzalez

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

There are no special prerequirements. 


Objectives and Contextualisation

The general objectives of the course are:

  1. The knowledge of the fundamental texts of the history of aesthetics, as well as their vocabulary and argumentation.
  2. The application of this vocabulary and argumentation to contemporary discursive praxis and its connection with aesthetic practices. This second objective locates the subject in the field of applied aesthetics.

The specific objectives of the subject are:

  1. The understanding of art as a privileged place for thinking.
  2. The knowledge of the points of intersection between aesthetics and the philosophical tradition.
  3. The knowledge of some of the fundamental texts of the aesthetic tradition.
  4. The presentation of aesthetics as a fundamental gnoseology.
  5. The knowledge of arguments and a vocabulary to understand the aesthetic tradition and the aesthetic dimension of the contemporary world.
  6. The establishment of a dialogue between the texts of the aesthetic tradition and contemporary art according to the procedures of applied aesthetics.
  7. The cultivation of the student's aesthetic sensitivity as a required sense for knowledge.

Competences

  • Analysing and summarising the main arguments of fundamental texts of philosophy in its various disciplines.
  • Identifying the main philosophical attitudes in the field of aesthetics and critically applying them in the art world.
  • 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 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.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Accurately describing an artistic object with the specific language of art criticism.
  2. Accurately drawing up normative texts.
  3. Accurately using the specific lexicon of the history of philosophy.
  4. Analysing the fundamental concepts of Theory of Art with a critical eye.
  5. Carrying out a planning for the development of a subject-related work.
  6. Carrying out oral presentations using an appropriate academic vocabulary and style.
  7. Correctly, accurately and clearly communicating the acquired philosophical knowledge in oral and written form.
  8. Correctly drawing up a previously analysed non-regulatory text.
  9. Distinguishing and analysing classical and current debates of the History of Art.
  10. Distinguishing and analysing representative texts of the main genres of the philosophical literature.
  11. Distinguishing and outlining the fundamental content of a philosophical text.
  12. Establishing relationships between science, philosophy, art, religion, politics, etc.
  13. Identifying the artistic imagery, placing it into its cultural context.
  14. Identifying the main ideas of a related text and drawing a diagram.
  15. Identifying the regulatory, stylistic or argumentative errors of a text.
  16. Indicating and summarising the common content of several manifestations of various fields of culture.
  17. Interpreting the contents of a text about Theory of Art.
  18. Producing an individual work that specifies the work plan and timing of activities.
  19. Recognise and define the common thinking present in a multidisciplinary context.
  20. Recognising, with a critical eye, aesthetic referents of the past and present and assessing its importance.
  21. Relating several ideas of the current philosophical debates.
  22. Relating the characteristic elements and factors of the philosophical tradition.
  23. Solving problems autonomously.
  24. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.

Content

 
 

FIRST PART (Prof. Marta Tafalla)

 

1. The aesthetic experience in Schopenhauer

Reading:

Arthur Schopenhauer, El mundo como voluntad y representación, (1818), Trotta, 2009. (Fragment)

 

2. The aesthetic experience in Gadamer

Reading:

Hans Georg Gadamer, Verdad y método, (1960), Sígueme, 2017. (Fragment)

 

3. The aesthetic appreciation of other species and ecosystems

Reading:

Allen Carlson and Glenn Parsons, "Environmental Aesthetics", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2024.

Henry David Thoreau, Walden o la vida en los bosques, (1854), Errata Naturae, 2013. (Fragment)

 

4.The cultural industry according to the Frankfurt School

Reading:

Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialéctica de la Ilustración, (1944), Trotta, 2018. (Fragment)

 

 

SECOND PART (Prof. Andrea Soto Calderón)

5. Libidinal economy and its aesthetic dimension

 Reading: 

Herbert Marcuse, La dimensión estética, (fragment) Madrid, Biblioteca Nueva, 2008; Eros y civilización, Barcelona, Ariel, 2010, (fragment)

Jean-François Lyotard, Economía libidinal, (fragment), Buenos Aires, Fondo de cultura económica, 1994.

Mark Fisher, Deseo postcapitalista, (fragment), Buenos Aires, Caja Negra, 2024. 

 

6. Logic of sensation
 Reading:  

Gilles Deleuze, Francis Bacon: lógica de la sensación (fragment), Madrid, Arena Libros, 2009.

Anne Sauvagnargues, Una ecología de los signos. A partir de Gilles Deleuze (fragment), Santiago de Chile, Polvora, 2022.

Catherine Malabou, “El ojo al borde del discurso”, La plasticidad en el atardecer de la escritura. Dialéctica, destrucción, deconstrucción, Castellón, Ellago Ediciones, 2008. 




Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures, seminars, small-group and individual tutorials 60 2.4 4, 10, 12, 17, 20, 21, 22, 3
Type: Supervised      
Exhibition visits, artistic events, tests, participation in seminars 30 1.2 7, 2, 11, 6, 15, 14, 24, 8
Type: Autonomous      
Individual and group readings, making of conceptual and evolutive maps 50 2 2, 11, 18, 5, 15, 24, 8, 23

The methodology of the classes will combine lectures and seminars, with the use of texts, visual and audiovisual material. In preparation for the seminars, students must read the texts proposed in each topic on a weekly basis, so the subject requires a commitment to individual reading, on the basis of which they will work in the group sessions. In the same way, situated knowledge will be promoted, hence the importance of the perspective of thinking through different artistic practices, within their sensitive fabric. 
 
Students will also have individual tutorials in which they can be accompanied in the development of their work or in specific doubts related to their own research. 
 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Exam (first part) 33,3% 4 0.16 4, 16, 7, 1, 9, 12, 5, 6, 13, 14, 17, 24, 19, 21, 22, 23, 3
Text commentary exercise (first part) 33,3% 3 0.12 16, 7, 2, 10, 11, 12, 5, 15, 20, 19, 21, 22, 23
Video essay based on the contents of the second part. 33,3% 3 0.12 2, 10, 11, 18, 15, 14, 17, 8, 22, 3

 

OPTION 1

Continuous Assessment, which will consist of:

a) A written exam on the content of the first part (33%)

b) A text commentary exercise on the content of the first part (33%)

c) Video essay based on the contents of the second part (33%)

 

 

The Department of Philosophy agreed that the first-semester students would have two periods dedicated to assessment activities and one week during which students could specifically prepare for the exams, in the format that each instructor will specify at the beginning of the course. The dates for the review week and the assessment periods are:

  • October 27 – October 31: review or tutorial week
  • November 3 – November 7: assessment week
  • January 8, 9, 12, 13, 14: assessment week

 

 

 

OPTION 2

Single Final Assessment, which will consist of:

A written exam made up of three different parts, equivalent to the three components of the continuous assessment. Each part is worth 33%.

 

 

On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

 

 

Recovery

In the case of continuous evaluation, students who have failed one, two or all three tests may sit a re-evaluation and recovery the test or tests they have failed. In order to be re-evaluated, it will be necessary tohave taken at least two of the three tests.

If a student has not taken any of the tests, or has only taken one of the tests, he/she will be considered "not evaluable".

All three tests must be passed in order to pass the course. The final mark will be the average mark of the three tests.

 

In the case of a single evaluation, the reevaluation will consist of a written exam in which allthe contents will be evaluated.  

 

In the event that the student makes any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be gradedwith 0, regardless of the learning process that may be instructed. In case of several irregularities in the assessment acts of the same subject, the final grade of this subject will be 0.

This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.


Bibliography

 1. Compulsory readings 

FIRST PART: 

Arthur Schopenhauer, El mundo como voluntad y representación, (1818), Trotta, 2009. (Fragment)

Hans Georg Gadamer, Verdad y método, (1960), Sígueme, 2017. (Fragment)

Allen Carlson and Glenn Parsons, "Environmental Aesthetics", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2024.

Henry David Thoreau, Walden o la vida en los bosques, (1854), Errata Naturae, 2013. (Fragment)

Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialéctica de la Ilustración, (1944), Trotta, 2018. (Fragment)

 

 

SECOND PART:

Herbert Marcuse, La dimensión estética, Madrid, Biblioteca Nueva, 2008; Eros y civilización, Barcelona, Ariel, 2010.

Jean-François Lyotard, Economía libidinal, Buenos Aires, Fondo de cultura económica, 1994.

Mark Fisher, Deseo postcapitalista, Buenos Aires, Caja Negra, 2024.

Gilles Deleuze, Francis Bacon: lógica de la sensación, Madrid, Arena Libros, 2009.

Anne Sauvagnargues, Una ecología de los signos. A partir de Gilles Deleuze, Santiago de Chile, Polvora, 2022.

Catherine Malabou, “El ojo al borde del discurso”, La plasticidad en el atardecer de la escritura. Dialéctica, destrucción, deconstrucción, Castellón, Ellago Ediciones, 2008. 

 

 

2. Bibliografia secundària

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

BARASCH, M., Teorías del Arte: De Platón a Winckelmann, Alianza, Madrid, 1991; Modern Theories of Art, 1: From Winckelmann to Baudelaire, New York UniversityPress, New York, 1990; Modern Theories of Art, 2: From Impressionism to Kandinsky, NewYork University press, New York andLondon, 1998.

BOZAL, V., Historia de las ideas estéticas I iII, Historia 16, Madrid1998; (ed.), Historia de las ideas estéticas y de las teorías artísticas contemporáneas. Visor, Madrid, 1996.

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

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

DANTO, A. C., El abuso de la belleza. La estética y el concepto del arte. Paidós, Barcelona, 2005.

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

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).

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. (Especialment recomanat)

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

KRIS, E. iKURZ, O., La Leyenda del artista, Ensayos Arte Cátedra, Madrid, 1982.

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

LYNCH, Enrique, Sobre la belleza,Anaya, Madrid, 1999.

LEVINSON, J., Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics, 2003.

MURRAY, Chris, Key Writers on art:From Antiquity tothe Ninetenth Century, Routledge, London and new York, 2003; Pensadores clave sobre el arte: elsiglo XX. Ensayos arte Cátedra, Madrid 2006.

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

RAMIREZ,J.A. Ecosistema y explosión de las artes. Anagrama, Barcelona 1994. (Especialmentrecomanat)

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

SOTO CALDERÓN, A., La performatividad de las imágenes, Metales Pesados, Santiago de Chile, 2020.

SOTO CALDERÓN, A., Imaginación material, Metales Pesados, Santiago de Chile, 2022.

SOTO CALDERÓN, A., imágenes que resisten. La genealogía como método crítico, Ayuntamiento Barcelona, 2023.

TAFALLA, MARTA, “Rehabilitating the Aesthetics of Nature: Hepburn and Adorno”, Environmental Ethics, The University of North Texas, vol 33, pp 45-56, 2011.

TAFALLA, MARTA, “The Aesthetic Appreciation of Animals in Zoological Parks”, Contemporary Aesthetics, vol 15, 2017.

TAFALLA, MARTA, Ecoanimal. Una estética plurisensorial, ecologista y animalista, Plaza y Valdés, Madrid, 2019.

TAFALLA, MARTA,“Overcoming Climate Breakdown Denial and Neglect through the Aesthetics of Nature”, Contemporary Aesthetics, vol. 21, 2023.

TATARKIEWICZ, e.,  Historia  de  seis  idees. Madid, Taurus, 1987 (1976). (Especialment recomanat)

VALVERDE, J. M., Breve historia y antología de la estética, Barcelona, Ariel. (Especialment recomanat)

VILAR, G., La desartización del arte. Universidad de Salamanca, 2012.

 


Software

No especific software is needed.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed