The language of this course is Dutch.
Three central questions
What is art? What is beauty? And what is the function of art? Guided by these three questions, Jeroen Linssen explores the history of thinking about art. Is art a matter of imitating nature, or is it about expressing feelings? What is the difference between an ordinary object and a work of art? Can beauty be determined objectively, or is it a matter of personal taste? And does art have an educational or therapeutic function? Or is art primarily meant simply to be enjoyed?
From antiquity to the end of art
Plato wondered about the relationship between beauty and morality. In Aristotle, the question of the function of art comes to the fore. Hume and Kant focused on the capacities of taste. Nietzsche and Bataille lead us to the issue of the relationship between art and intoxication and ecstasy. The question of the extent to which art can have a liberating, emancipatory effect is central to Marcuse. Heidegger confronts us with the relationship between art and truth. And with Danto we encounter the provocative question of whether art may have come to an end now that anything can and may be art.