PHIL 290 Art: Form, Meaning, Value

This course will explore foundational questions in the philosophy of art: What is art? Is there a quality or feature or function that all works of art share? How does art get its meaning? Does the artist or the viewer (or both or neither) determine the meaning of an artwork? (Why) do we value the authenticity or originality of an artwork? What determines whether something is a good work of art? Can art make us better (or worse) people? Can good works of art have morally bad properties? How can we be moved by fictions (that is how can we fear the monsters of horror films)?