PH 217 - Social Contract Theory and the Art World

Credits: 4
To begin, we will read historical and more recent philosophers on the idea that morality is constituted by a self-interested agreement we do or ideally should make. We will then investigate the suggestion that art is similarly socially constructed by the art world (critics, galleries, museums, colleges) and ask how critiques of social contract theory might be applied to it. How do power and ideology influence not just specific artworks, but what counts as art? Does this reduce taste to social capital and signaling? Should traditional aesthetic concepts be revised or supplemented?

Liberal Arts Perspective(s): Ethics and Values