PHIL 237 What Does a Work of Art Mean? (Not offered 2006-2007)
According to myth, the Philosopher's Stone could turn iron into gold. According
to this course, even more amazing is that configurations of colored paint or
sound waves or ink stains can be turned into art, music, and literature. How is
that a work of art can have a meaning? What does it mean for a work of art to
have a meaning? Must a work of art have a meaning? Is the meaning of art similar to, or different from, the meaning of language?
We will examine works of visual art, such as Marcel Duchamp's L.H.O.O.Q.,
works of music, such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong's 1961 recording
of "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," and works of literature
such as Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire. We will read such philosophers as Gottlob Frege, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Arthur Danto, Nelson Goodman, and Catherine Elgin. Most of the art we investigate and most of the philosophers we read
will be from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Format: seminar with some lectures. Requirements: frequent imaginative short
assignments and a final project.
No prerequisites; open to first years. Enrollment limit: 30 (expected: 20). Preference given to seniors and juniors.