Description
Could there have been a Romantic school of art if not for the ideas of Aristotle? In this course, Dr. Robert Mayhew addresses this intriguing question.
Plato, the first philosopher with a theory of esthetics, saw art as the product of irrationality and a dangerous force given its emotional power. In his Poetics, Aristotle offers a brilliant and influential reply to Plato, which Mayhew examines at length.
The course covers a range of topics, including: the rationality of art; the nature and importance of plot and characterization; art as the representation of things as they “might be and ought to be”; and the role of art in moral education.
Mayhew identifies Aristotle’s unrecognized influence on Romanticism and his influence on Classicism, which has been historically misinterpreted. Throughout the course, Aristotle’s views are compared to and contrasted with those of Ayn Rand.
This course was recorded at the 1997 Lyceum Conference in Irvine, CA.
This course includes a handout.
