Smith College's Moodle

Instructor: Mikaela Laine, PhD

Email: mlaine@smith.edu

Class hours: M and W 9:25 – 10:40am

Class location: Bass 203

Office hours: Tues 1:30-3:00pm, W 12:00-1:30pm

Office location: Sabin-Reed 424 (+ Zoom)

Phil 233_01: Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art
Fall 2025
Instructor: Angela Curran (pronouns: she/her)
Office: Wright 222
Office Hours:  In person, in Wright 222, Tuesday and Thursday, 11:30-1 pm and other times by appointment.
email: acurran24@smith.edu
Course Meeting Times: Tu and Th 9:25-10:40 am
Course Room: Hatfield 106

Course Syllabus: Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art

“The experience of art is a manifestation of human freedom, enabling individuals to express their uniqueness and engage with the world in meaningful ways, ” Hannah Arendt

“The function of art [experience] has always been to break through the crust of conventionalized and routine consciousness.” John Dewey

The central goal of the course is to introduce you to some of the puzzles and problems that philosophers have considered when they think about art. After going through the course, you will have learned a new way to think about art. You will also learn about philosophical thinking and see how examining art can teach us more about the nature of philosophy.

We investigate several central questions in aesthetics and the philosophy of art:
1). The Definition of Art: can art be defined? Could anything, including a pile of bricks, be art?
2) The Experience of Art: What is the nature of our experience of art? Is there something unique or valuable about our experience of art that sets it apart from our experience of everyday experiences?
3) Is intention relevant for interpreting a work of art?
4). How can we feel genuine emotions towards fiction when we know the characters are not real?
4) Are art and morality independent?

We will use many examples of artworks of various kinds (paintings, film, literature, music, and so on) as we discuss the ideas in the readings. You are also encouraged to bring in examples of artworks you would like to discuss about the readings. In addition, we will make use of the Smith College Museum of art throughout the semester.

You do not need to have taken philosophy to enjoy and do well in this class. But you do need to commit to learning the tools of philosophy, which we will introduce the first few weeks of the class, especially logical reasoning and evaluating arguments.