Aesthetics - 1st semester

Objectives

i) understanding the rising of Aesthetics within modern philosophical thinking
ii) identifying the philosophical categories, concepts and problems implied in the reflection on aesthetic experience and artistic creation
iii) reading and interpretation of some of the fundamental philosophical texts of modern and contemporary thinking on art
iv) critically understanding the contributions of Aesthetics for Western culture´s thinking and questioning about itself

General characterization

Code

711031054

Credits

6

Responsible teacher

Maria João Mayer Branco

Hours

Weekly - 4

Total - Available soon

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

Not applicable

Bibliography

LORAUX, Nicole, La voix endeuillée. Essai sur la tragédie grecque, Gallimard, Paris, 1999
NIETZSCHE, F., O nascimento da tragédia, Círculo de Leitores, Lisboa, 1996 (tradução, comentário e notas de Teresa R. Cadete)
PORTER, James I., The Invention of Dionysus. An Essay on the Birth of Tragedy, Stanford University Press, Stanford / California, 2000
SCHMIDT, Dennis J., On Germans and Other Greeks. Tragedy and Ethical Life, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 2001




Teaching method

Reading and analysis of The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche and identification and examination of the problems explored in this work.

Evaluation method

Individual evaluation based on a written exam, class attendance is required.

Subject matter

i) clarification of the notion of \"the science of aesthetics\" (§1)
ii) presentation of the notions of \"Apolline\" and \"Dionysiac\" and of their relation with the experiences of dreaming and intoxication
iii) the problem of human suffering in the ancient legend of Silenus
iv) the Greek inversion of Silenus wisdom
v) the birth of tragedy in Greek culture, its creation and effects upon the spectators
vi) the death of Greek tragedy: Euripides and Socrates
vii) the triumph of aesthetic socratism over the Dionysiac (and the Apolline)
viii) Socratic optimism and tragic pessimism
ix) art and science in modernity
x) the rebirth of tragic wisdom in modern Europe: Kant, Schopenhauer and Wagner´s Musikdrama
xi) Tristan: Urlust and Urschmerz
xii) \"dissonance assuming human form\"

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: