Philosophy 290-2

The seminar will be concerned primarily with the part of the book dealing with Kant’s aesthetics, and more specifically his theory of the beautiful. We’ll be trying to understand the theory in its own right, but also its connections to Kant’s broader epistemological project, and in particular to his theory of judgment as it applies in theoretical knowledge. If time permits, and depending on the interests of the participants, we’ll also look at some of Kant’s theory of biological teleology. The readings will primarily be drawn from the book itself, but we will also be reading extracts of Henry Allison’s 2001 book, “Kant’s Theory of Taste”, and some articles by the instructor. We’ll be using the translation by Guyer and Matthews (Cambridge, 2000). Participants should have some prior acquaintance with Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason”.