Aesthetics is the field within Philosophy that studies beauty, the standards by which we judge our response to objects or experiences, the theoretical foundations of the arts and human creativity, and the ideological and cultural factors that shape our bodily interactions with the world.

From its humble origins in the mid 18th century, when it emerged as a philosophical endeavor aimed at the understanding of sensual cognition, aesthetics took off during the Enlightenment as a fundamental branch of philosophy thanks to the contribution of Emmanuel Kant and other thinkers who embarked on a systematic study of beauty, the experiences it produces, and the validity of aesthetic judgments. For a good part of the 19th and 20th century aesthetics was identified as essentially equivalent to a philosophy of art, and became predominantly concerned with art and its significance. In recent decades, however, its scope has broadened significantly as to encompass an ever-expanding landscape of topics. Among these, notable areas of interest include neuroaesthetics, perceptual disembodiment and the digital age, the aesthetics of daily life, the intricate interplay between aesthetics and ethics, and cross-cultural aesthetics.

This elective course is designed for students who seek an introductory understanding of the philosophical questions that lie beneath our aesthetic perceptions, interpretations, and practices. It will adopt a problem-based approach, organizing its structure around a series of fundamental inquiries within the history of aesthetics. Each of these inquiries will have a dedicated session. Weekly readings provided by the professor will combine with discussions and constant references to a diverse range of aesthetic occurrences and artifacts, spanning realms as varied as culinary experiences, sports, design, films, social and cultural habits, and, of course, artist.