Previous Years' Course Catalogues

Is beauty simply in the eye of the beholder or is it something more? Is it a way to God, a moral precept, or the specific locus for a unique kind of pleasure? This course examines a variety of subjective and objective views of beauty in the history of Western philosophy and theology from antiquity to the present (e.g. in the thought of Plato, Augustine, Aquinas, Kant, Weil, Barth, and Balthasar). It will also consider the implications of these views of beauty for the production of the visual arts, music, and literary culture in Western religion and society.

For much of the Western art tradition, the concept of grace has been an Important critical concept for Its ability to capture the often elusive quality of artistic affect. Often referred to as the "je ne sals quoi" of art- that something extra that cannot be explained -grace even supplanted beauty for many wrtters (from Giorgio Vasari to Friedrich Schiller) as the highest artistic Ideal. Often missing from modem analyses of the concept, however, are its theological foundations. This seminar style course will exam the concept of grace within Its theological, philosophical, literary, and art theoretical contexts in an effort to understand both its historical significance and its potential usefulness for the philosophy of art today. We will look at a variety of texts (e.g. from Plato, Cicero, the Pseudo-Dionyslus, Dante, John Calvin, Alexander Pope, Friedrich Schiller, Martin Heldegger) as well as works of art for which grace is an important and defining aesthetic concept.

For much of the Western art tradition, the concept of grace has been an Important critical concept for Its ability to capture the often elusive quality of artistic affect. Often referred to as the "je ne sals quoi" of art- that something extra that cannot be explained -grace even supplanted beauty for many wrtters (from Giorgio Vasari to Friedrich Schiller) as the highest artistic Ideal. Often missing from modem analyses of the concept, however, are its theological foundations. This seminar style course will exam the concept of grace within Its theological, philosophical, literary, and art theoretical contexts in an effort to understand both its historical significance and its potential usefulness for the philosophy of art today. We will look at a variety of texts (e.g. from Plato, Cicero, the Pseudo-Dionyslus, Dante, John Calvin, Alexander Pope, Friedrich Schiller, Martin Heldegger) as well as works of art for which grace is an important and defining aesthetic concept.

For much of the Western art tradition, the concept of grace has been an Important critical concept for Its ability to capture the often elusive quality of artistic affect. Often referred to as the "je ne sals quoi" of art- that something extra that cannot be explained -grace even supplanted beauty for many wrtters (from Giorgio Vasari to Friedrich Schiller) as the highest artistic Ideal. Often missing from modem analyses of the concept, however, are its theological foundations. This seminar style course will exam the concept of grace within Its theological, philosophical, literary, and art theoretical contexts in an effort to understand both its historical significance and its potential usefulness for the philosophy of art today. We will look at a variety of texts (e.g. from Plato, Cicero, the Pseudo-Dionyslus, Dante, John Calvin, Alexander Pope, Friedrich Schiller, Martin Heldegger) as well as works of art for which grace is an important and defining aesthetic concept.

Until recently, it was customary to regard Kant as the thinker who gave definitive form to the notion of aesthetic judgment and who succeeded in explaining why aesthetic experience is something essentially distinct from other kinds of experience. The postmodern rejection of the practice of aesthetic theory, however, has done much to undermine Kant’s position vis-à-vis the arts. This course aims to re-examine Kant’s aesthetic theory from the vantage point of the art theoretical literature that preceded it. In an effort to better understand Kant’s contribution to the history of thought about art, it will seek to contextualize such “Kantian” themes as judgment, taste, genius, beauty, sublimity and purposiveness. It will also consider to what degree our understanding of Kant has been shaped by later modernist assumptions about the character of his contribution.

Until recently, it was customary to regard Kant as the thinker who gave definitive form to the notion of aesthetic judgment and who succeeded in explaining why aesthetic experience is something essentially distinct from other kinds of experience. The postmodern rejection of the practice of aesthetic theory, however, has done much to undermine Kant's position vis-a-vis the arts. This course aims to re-examine Kant's aesthetic theory from the vantage point of the art theoretical literature that preceded it. In an effort to better understand Kant's contribution to the history of thought about art, it will seek to contextualize such "Kantian" themes as judgment, taste, genius, beauty, sublimity and purposiveness. It will also consider to what degree our understanding of Kant has been shaped by later modernist assumptions about the character of his contribution.

Until recently, it was customary to regard Kant as the thinker who gave definitive form to the notion of aesthetic judgment and who succeeded in explaining why aesthetic experience is something essentially distinct from other kinds of experience. The postmodern rejection of the practice of aesthetic theory, however, has done much to undermine Kant's position vis-a-vis the arts. This course aims to re-examine Kant's aesthetic theory from the vantage point of the art theoretical literature that preceded it. In an effort to better understand Kant's contribution to the history of thought about art, it will seek to contextualize such "Kantian" themes as judgment, taste, genius, beauty, sublimity and purposiveness. It will also consider to what degree our understanding of Kant has been shaped by later modernist assumptions about the character of his contribution.

Until recently, it was customary to regard Kant as the thinker who gave definitive form to the notion of aesthetic judgment and who succeeded in explaining why aesthetic experience is something essentially distinct from other kinds of experience. The postmodern rejection of the practice of aesthetic theory, however, has done much to undermine Kant's position vis-a-vis the arts. This course aims to re-examine Kant's aesthetic theory from the vantage point of the art theoretical literature that preceded it. In an effort to better understand Kant's contribution to the history of thought about art, it will seek to contextualize such "Kantian" themes as judgment, taste, genius, beauty, sublimity and purposiveness. It will also consider to what degree our understanding of Kant has been shaped by later modernist assumptions about the character of his contribution.

The linguistic turn and the interpretive turn in twentieth-century philosophy play a role in many cultural controversies and academic debates. This seminar examines representative texts from three schools of thought: German philosophical hermeneutics (Hans-Georg Gadamer), French poststructural feminism (Julia Kristeva), and Anglo-American analytical philosophy of language (John Searle).

Defined by Plato as lovers of truth, philosophers have long debated what truth is. Recently they have disagreed about how important truth is. This seminar examines prominent theories of truth since 1900, as proposed by such thinkers as Pierce, Heidegger, Davidson, Putnam, and Habermas. Feminist, deflationist, and postmodernist critiques of truth theory will be considered and an alternative proposed.

How does pragmatism's central tenet that the meaning and worth of ideas lies in their practical consequences comport with religious forms of life and the understandings of morality they fund? Does pragmatism's suspicion regarding traditional "supernaturalist" theologies leave any space to think alternatively about God and the human relationsip with God? What role do pragmatists see for religion in a democratic society, if any?  In addressing these questions, this seminar will focus on the work of John Dewey, Richard Rorty, and Jeffrey Stout.

How does pragmatism's central tenet that the meaning and worth of ideas lies in their practical consequences comport with religious forms of life and the understandings of morality they fund? Does pragmatism's suspicion regarding traditional "supernaturalist" theologies leave any space to think alternatively about God and the human relationsip with God? What role do pragmatists see for religion in a democratic society, if any? In addressing these questions, this seminar will focus on the work of John Dewey, Richard Rorty, and Jeffrey Stout.