Undergraduate Module Descriptor

PHL3045: Aesthetics

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Overview

NQF Level 6
Credits 15 ECTS Value 7.5
Term(s) and duration

This module ran during term 1 (11 weeks)

Academic staff

Dr Tom Roberts (Convenor)

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Available via distance learning

No

In this module you will examine core philosophical problems in Aesthetics. You will begin by examining the debate over the nature of beauty and ugliness, and whether it is possible to offer a theoretical analysis of these central aesthetic concepts. Then, you will focus on how to understand the value of art, art-making, and art-appreciation, and the relation between these values and other sources of human value, such as the ethical and the intellectual. You will consider, for example, whether the value of art is exhausted by its perceptible, formal qualities; whether the virtuous character of an artist can make her art better; and whether we have any aesthetic obligations (as we have moral obligations). Lastly, the module will investigate philosophical problems concerning individual art-forms such as music and film.

There are no pre-requisite or co-requisite modules. The module is suitable for non-specialists and those from interdisciplinary pathways who have an interest in the nature and value of art. 

Module created

15/03/2018

Last revised

17/04/2018