PHIL 732
Philosophy of the Arts 2
Please note: this is archived course information from 2021 for PHIL 732.
Description
This course considers debates about the connections between aesthetics, the philosophy of art and human evolution.
Many theories of art are explored in depth. These include theories that group the arts and regard them as together serving some general adaptive function, that present particular art forms each as adaptive in their own distinctive fashion, that attempt to explain the origins of art, that argue that art is not itself adaptive but is a by-product of behaviours or systems that are and that analyse art as a technology not closely connected to evolved behaviours.
As well as philosophical literature on aesthetics and the philosophy of art, reference will be made to work in other disciplines, such as evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, evolution theory, philosophy of biology and art-based disciplines.
Assessment
Coursework only
Availability 2021
Not offered in 2021; planned for 2022
Lecturer(s)
Coordinator(s) Distinguished Professor Stephen Davies
Reading/Texts
Stephen Davies, The Artful Species. Available as an e-book via the library or in paperback.
http://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=The+Artful+Species&search=Find+book
Recommended Reading
Denis Dutton, The Art Instinct (Oxford: Oxford University Press OR New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2009).
Points
PHIL 732: 15 points