Module:

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

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Module Title
Module Code	(ITS: TP235)
Faculty		School
NFQ level		Credit Rating

Description

This module provides philosophical reflection on art, beauty and taste. Students will consider the nature of these concepts and the nature of aesthetic experience and meaning.

Learning Outcomes

1. comprehend core concepts in aesthetics
2. develop philosophical analyses and construct arguments using primary and secondary text
3. apply knowledge of wide-ranging philosophical claims and ideas
4. critically evaluate arguments and long-standing problems in Western philosophy of art

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	22	No Description
Independent Study	103	No Description
Total Workload: 125

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Essay	n/a	100%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Plato
art as 'copy of a copy'?

Aristotle
art as katharsis?

Plotinus
beauty as formal unity

Aquinas
objective beauty?

Renaissance aesthetics
the question of mimesis

Hume
taste & subjectivity

Kant
the sublime

Hegel
the end of art?

Nietzsche
tragedy and truth

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Hugh Bredin & Liberato Santoro-Brienza: 2000, Philosophies of Art and Beauty, Edinburgh UP,
Anne Sheppard: 1987, Aesthetics. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art, Oxford UP,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None