PHIL 80.18 Beauty
Beauty is the preeminent aesthetic value, and plumbing its depths is one of philosophy's oldest occupations. Is beauty an objective feature of the world or merely "in the eye of the beholder"? How do we judge something to be beautiful? What is the relationship between beauty and pleasure? Can art be beautiful? Can nature? What is the relationship between beauty and other values, like justice and virtue? Readings may include Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, Hume, Kant, Schiller, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, G. E. Moore, Iris Murdoch, Mary Mothersill, Arthur Danto, and Alexander Nehamas.
Prerequisite
Requires the permission of the instructor.