University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: 2

Planned timetable: TBC

Our aesthetic choices – the music we like, the films we recommend to our friends, the clothes we wear – can position us in relation to others. As such, class and status structures shape our aesthetic preferences, but such structures might also be challenged or reinforced by our interactions with various aesthetic objects. This module will introduce these topics through intersecting perspectives from analytic aesthetics, political philosophy, continental philosophy, critical theory, and feminist thought. Topics to be covered may include: how should we understand the distinction between art and craft, or high art and low art? What are the political and ethical implications of our aesthetic choices and judgements? Who gets to produce aesthetic and cultural artefacts, and why? What are the political and ethical implications of the preservation and curation of aesthetic and cultural artefacts? What is cultural and aesthetic appropriation? Can art contribute to social justice?

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisite(s): Before taking this module you must take PY1012

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 1 lecture (X11 weeks), 1 seminar (11X Weeks)

Scheduled learning hours: 44

Guided independent study hours: 259

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: Coursework - 100%


Re-assessment: Coursework - 100%

Personnel

Module coordinator: Dr C M Y Torregrossa
Module teaching staff: Dr Clotilde Torregrossa
Module coordinator email ct65@st-andrews.ac.uk

Intended learning outcomes

• Engage in a theoretically informed way with different philosophical approaches to aesthetics and social philosophy.
• Produce philosophical analysis and evaluation of related arguments in other disciplines.
• Formulate and justify their own philosophical views about the social consequences of our aesthetic choices.
• Critically reflect on their own aesthetic engagement with the world and their political and ethical effects on social structures.