PHIL224

Description

Section information text: Why do some artworks and experiences overwhelm us, yet also move us so deeply? In the18th century philosophers, critics, and artists gave such experiences a name: "the sublime."When we experience the sublime we experience something as great, as physically massive, as cognitively difficult to grasp, or even as posing a danger. The sublime draws us in as it pushes us away, and is both uplifting and terrifying. From the 18th century onward fascination with the sublime has been translated through the arts, often with distinctly political resonances. In the twentieth century, under the impact of historical events, technological developments and the later post-modernism, the sublime found new realms of expression. This class builds on a critical study of theories of the sublime to explore how artworks, especially those involving music, from different eras have engaged this extraordinary aesthetic.