Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics

Dialogues #38

“Beauty is such an order and construction of parts as, either by the primary constitution of our nature, by custom, or by caprice, is fitted to give a pleasure and satisfaction to the soul. … Pleasure and pain, therefore, are not only necessary attendants of beauty and deformity, but constitute their very essence.” – David Hume, the Treatise of Human Nature

tl;dr version: I think I'd like to create a course on Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art and Beauty.

For the past couple weeks, I have been working on my upcoming Introduction to Philosophy course for Selling Plato's Academy.

I love teaching "Intro". It's like giving an expansive tour of this giant field of philosophy, and introducing some of the biggest questions having to do with existence, knowledge, the mind, right and wrong, etc.

You will see more about this book and course next month, but I am mostly thrilled with the textbook I'm using for the course: The Norton Introduction to Philosophy.

The book includes well over 1,000 pages from original sources across eras and across several of the major fields in philosophy like metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, ethics, and political philosophy.

Now, philosophy is an enormous field, whose subject matter includes literally everything you could possibly think of, and more. So it's understandable that an introductory book can't cover everything.

But even with the book standing at over 1,000 pages, I do wish the editors had included reading selections from three branches of philosophy in particular:

Aesthetics
Philosophy of Language
Philosophy of Science

To be fair, the editors explicitly acknowledge these absences:

We have focused on a selection of central topics in philosophy. To do them justice and to give a sense of competing perspectives, we had to exclude other rich and exciting parts of the field, including the philosophy of language, aesthetics, the philosophy of physics, the philosophy of mathematics, action theory, and the philosophy of biology...unlike many introductory texts, The Norton Introduction to Philosophy devotes substantial space to moral theory, metaethics, and political philosophy. These are areas that have been central to philosophy from its beginnings but not always represented in introductory texts on the ground that they are specialized subjects that require prior training. We disagree. (p. xx)

I disagree. Ethics and political philosophy get a lot of attention in philosophy, even in many other introductory textbooks. But I understand and appreciate what they're saying.

My first upper-level philosophy class was on aesthetics during my freshman year in college. I'll never forget taking it with one of the professors who inspired me to continue studying philosophy, Dr. Grady Spires.

I don't hear much about the study of aesthetics, even though it has been part of philosophy since the subject's beginning in ancient Greece.

But aesthetics is everywhere. Some of my most severe nostalgia comes from memories involving songs from my past that I can feel at my core, or the ritual of walking into a movie theater with anticipation of what I'm about to see, or traveling with friends and family to experience scenery and landscapes that inspire awe or peace. Wherever you find design of any kind, you find the aesthetic.

Chances are you listened to some kind of music today. Here's how the SEP entry on "The Philosophy of Music" hooks you into its topic:

Music arguably presents more philosophical puzzles than any other art. Unlike painting, its works often have multiple instances, none of which can be identified with the work itself. Thus, the question of what exactly the work is is initially more puzzling than the same question about works of painting, which appear (at least initially) to be ordinary physical objects. Unlike much literature, the instances of a work are performances, which offer interpretations of the work, yet the work can also be interpreted (perhaps in a different sense) independent of any performance, and performances themselves can be interpreted. This talk of “interpretation” points to the fact that we find music an art steeped with meaning, and yet, unlike drama, music—at least “pure” instrumental music—has no obvious semantic content. This quickly raises the question of why we should find music so valuable. Central to many philosophers’ thinking on these subjects has been music’s apparent ability to express emotions while remaining an abstract art in some sense.

Aside from the specifics of music, maybe you have wondered what the relation is between art and meaning, which gets really complicated in the philosophy of theater, for example, where persons themselves can signify messages and meanings.

Or is dance more of your thing? architecture? How do we define "art" in the first place? As technology progresses, particularly through AI, many of us will need to think more carefully and critically about the role and philosophy of digital forms of art.

Because most people consume art regularly through music, film, or design, aesthetics can be a very cool, accessible entry point into philosophical thinking.

So if you have any interest in taking a self-paced, introductory course on aesthetics, and going through many of the questions and topics mentioned above (and more), do let me know.

Courses take an unholy amount of work to create and produce, so I would need some funding help and an accurate gauge of interest on this one if it's going to fly. But I'm in if you're in.

If you think someone you know or your followers on social media might be interested, you can point them to this post: https://sellingplato.ck.page/posts/02-20-2025

Would you be interested in taking an introductory course on aesthetics?

Yes

Next week's podcast episode will be one to watch for. If you haven't subscribed yet, now is a good time. My guest and I talk about a device that, if approved, could change the world. No exaggeration.

Until next time.

Jared

I created a free, 17-page paper-writing template that I hope proves helpful for you. It's what I wish I had at every stage of higher education: college, seminary, and in my philosophy PhD. Whether you're a college student or graduate student looking to learn the basics, or a professor looking for a paper-writing guide for your students, I lay out the structure of a philosophical paper, with each part explained in detail.

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