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PHIL 3220  PHILOSOPHY OF ART (3 credits)

The course is an inquiry into historical and contemporary philosophical perspectives on the making, interpreting and criticizing of works of art, including relations of the arts to other dimensions of cultures. Students will wrestle with foundational questions (e.g., "What is beauty?", "What is art?", "What makes good art good?", "Is there a right way to interpret art?"), consider connections between art and ethics, culture, and politics (e.g., "Can an artwork be both immoral and good?", "Can a particular culture have exclusive rights to an artform?", "How does public art create political communities and divisions?"), explore questions within particular arts (e.g., "Can music represent?", "Why do we respond emotionally to fictions?"), and experience and evaluate art in light of these investigations. (Cross-listed with PHIL 8225)

Prerequisite(s): Junior or 3 credits in philosophy.