Seminar on the Aesthetics of Politics

This year's Research Seminar on the Aesthetics of
Politics will focus on six books, six authors, and
three theoretical dialogues on the aesthetic-as
opposed to the theological or
epistemic-understanding of politics in general and
of democracy in particular. These six
aesthetico-political authors are: French
philosophers Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Claude
Lefort, American pragmatist and neo-pragmatist
philosophers John Dewey and Richard Rorty, and
Jewish-German American political thinker Hannah
Arendt and American philosopher Judith Butler. The
course is thus about the aesthetics of politics,
but doubly so. On the one hand, it is about the
way in which both art and political action
participate in the political institution of the
social-that is, about the way in which our
aesthetic and political practices shape, stage,
and make sense of our societies. On the other
hand, the course is also about a particular
understanding of that very political institution
of society. Societies institute themselves in a
plurality of ways. This plurality could be
simplified in three forms: theological, epistemic,
and aesthetic. With the help of the mentioned
thinkers, we will engage in the exploration of
what we will call the aesthetic political horizon.
We will devote the first and last classes to
introduce the general topic and themes, and to
conclude with a recapitulation and a discussion
around the students' final presentations. During
the seminar's main six classes we will deal with
one book by each of our selected thinkers during
each of the sessions. This strategy will allow us
to focus, in the most effective manner possible,
and during a very intensive, two-week long
seminar, on the crucial contribution each of these
authors and dialogues has made and continues to
make to the field of an intertwined-both
practically and theoretically-aesthetics and
politics. At the same time, this Winter session
course is designed to potentially become the
triggering event of a much larger relationship
with either or all these authors/theoretical
debates. MA in Aesthetics and Politics and other
students will be welcome to suggest Spring
semester independent studies, or to take a
specifically designed course around the
unclassifiable work of Argentine writer Jorge Luis
Borges, to further incursion on the introduced
matters. The seminar is open to MA, MFA, and Upper
Level BFA students.