Philosophy 267: Kant and the 19th Century
German Aesthetics from Kant to Nietzsche

Curtis Bowman
Logan Hall 464
cubowman@nous.phil.upenn.edu
http://www.phil.upenn.edu/~cubowman

Course Description

In this class our primary focus will be the aesthetics of Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. We will not only study their views on art and aesthetic experience for their own sake, but also with an eye on understanding their philosophies as a whole.

Required Texts

G. W. F. Hegel, Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art, 2 vols. (Oxford)

Immanuel Kant, Critique of Judgement (Oxford)

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy and Other Writings (Cambridge)

Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, 2 vols. (Dover)

I. Kant's Aesthetics: Critique of Aesthetic Judgement

1. The Theory of Beauty: "Analytic of the Beautiful" (§§1-22, General Remark)

2. The Theory of the Sublime: "Analytic of the Sublime" (§§23-29, General Remark)

3. The Theory of Fine Art: §§43-54

4. The Deduction of Taste and the Link to Morality: §§30-42, 55-60

II. Hegel's Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art

Introduction (pp. 1-90)

Part I. The Idea of Artistic Beauty, or the Ideal (pp. 91-105, 106-115, 153-174, 280-298)

Part II. Development of the Ideal into the Particular Forms of Art

• Introduction (pp. 299-302)
• The Symbolic Form of Art (pp. 303-322, 347-361, 371-377)
• The Classical Form of Art (pp. 427-442, 443-475, 476-486)
• The Romantic Form of Art (517-529, 530-539)

Part III. The System of the Individual Arts

• Introduction (pp. 613-629)
• Architecture (pp. 630-634, 635-648, 660-676, 684-700)
• Sculpture (pp. 701-709, 710-720, 721-727, 778-791)
• Painting (skip this chapter)
• Music (skip this chapter)
• Poetry (pp. 959-970, 971-999, 1040-1093, 1208-1237)

III. Schopenhauer's Aesthetics: The World as Will and Representation

Volume 1

• First Book (§§1-6, 16)
• Second Book (§§17-29)
• Third Book (§§30-52)
• Fourth Book (§§53-56, 66-71)

Volume 2

• Supplements to the First Book (Chapters I, XVI-XVII)
• Supplements to the Second Book (Chapters XVIII, XXVIII)
• Supplements to the Third Book (Chapters XXXI, XXXIII-XXXVII, XXXIX)
• Supplements to the Fourth Book (Chapters XLV-XLVI, XLIX-L)

IV. Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy

Course Requirements

Students will write two papers (10-15 pages each). There will also be a comprehensive exam at the end of the semester. Each assignment will count for one-third of the course grade.

Policies concerning papers

(1) Any student requiring an extension should arrange for one at least three days in advance of handing in the paper. A paper without an extension will be considered late and penalized accordingly. A letter grade will be deducted from the paper grade for every full week or fraction thereof that the paper is late.

(2) Papers must be printed when they are handed in. E-mail attachments will not be accepted.

Back to my fall 2001 course page.

Back to class materials page.

Back to my home page.

This page last modified on October 8, 2001.