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At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• demonstrate knowledge of the main concepts and categories of contemporary aesthetics;
• understand the relationship between aesthetics, language, images, and communication;
• critically analyze philosophical texts and contemporary artistic phenomena;
• apply aesthetic categories to the interpretation of urban space, communication, and public art;
• use appropriate philosophical terminology and develop independent critical and argumentative skills.

The course consists of lectures, guided reading and discussion of philosophical texts, seminars, and the analysis of case studies.

Teaching activities also include workshops devoted to the analysis of images, communication, and public art. Study visits and meetings with scholars, artists, and professionals may also be organized.

Particular attention will be devoted to public art and the transformation of urban space through field activities, including educational visits to the Librino district of Catania.

No specific prerequisites are required. However, a basic knowledge of contemporary philosophy and European cultural history is recommended.

Attendance is not compulsory

General Part (4 ECTS)

• Aesthetics as a philosophical discipline.
• Beauty, art, and aesthetic experience.
• Symbol, language, and imagination.
• Perception, representation, and communication.
• Aesthetics and contemporary society.
• Art, politics, and public space.

Monographic Part (2 ECTS)

• Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.
• Elisabetta Di Stefano, Urban Aesthetics.

General Part

P. D’Angelo, E. Franzini, G. Scaramuzza, Estetica, Raffaello Cortina Editore, Milan, 2002, pp. 1–340.

Monographic Part

W. Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Einaudi, Turin, 2014, pp. 1–68.

E. Di Stefano, Estetica urbana, Mimesis, Milan-Udine, 2023, pp. 7–114.

• What is Walter Benjamin’s concept of aura?
• How does Benjamin interpret the mechanical reproducibility of the work of art?
• What are the main features of urban aesthetics according to Elisabetta Di Stefano?
• What role does public art play in the transformation of urban space?