PHI 174 Philosophy of Creativity
A philosophical examination of the creative process, including but not restricted to artistic creativity in human life and culture. What is creativity and what does it do to us? What happens when the object of appreciation is not a work of art? Often understood as secondary in importance and ephemeral, creative works of art and theories about how artistic creativity operates are defining characteristics of cultures and eras. In some analyses aesthetics is the foundational philosophical discipline. This class will study the broad range of how art creates us, and may include the classical texts from Plato, Indian rasas, Aristotle, the Zen wabi-sabi tradition, English sentimentalism, and Kant, as well as more contemporary accounts from Dewey to Li to Heidegger. This class will also analyze many works of art, from Tang Dynasty poems to industrial design Chicano murals to Paleolithic carvings, and even to reproductions of important works of art. GE 5C.
Distribution
PHI