Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
What is art?
Know the main definitions: mimetic (art as imitation, Plato's suspicion of images), expressionist (art as expression of feeling, Tolstoy, Croce), formalist (significant form, Bell, Fry), institutional (Dickie: art is what the artworld confers status on), and aesthetic theories centred on experience.
The aesthetic
Understand beauty, the sublime (Kant: pleasure mixed with awe before what exceeds imagination), the picturesque, taste, and disinterestedness. Know the judgement of taste as subjective yet claiming universal agreement (Kant).
Interpretation and value
Be able to discuss intentionalism vs. anti-intentionalism (the intentional fallacy), interpretation and the plurality of readings, fictionality, and artistic value (cognitive, moral, aesthetic).
Traps
(a) Treating the institutional theory as saying "anything is art"; (b) confusing the sublime with the merely beautiful; (c) reducing Kant's aesthetics to subjectivism; (d) confusing the intentional fallacy (criticising via author's intention) with the claim that intention is irrelevant to creation.
Rule of thumb
When asked whether something is art, ask: which theory of art is presupposed? Then test the case against that theory's criterion, not against personal taste.
Worked example: A readymade urinal exhibited in a gallery. Under formalism it may fail (no significant form); under the institutional theory it may qualify (artworld conferral). State the theory before judging.