We will be holding a one-day cultural event on Saturday 27 April consisting of a series of short talks led by experts from within Philosophy at Southampton. This thought provoking and inspiring conference will provide you with the opportunity to learn and engage in discussion about aesthetics from academics of international distinction.
Until the later nineteenth century, ‘beauty’ was a word laden with meaning – so laden indeed that it spawned the ‘sublime’ and the ‘tragic’ as further terms of aesthetic approbation, so as to spread the burden of approval around.
Today, however, all three terms have lost their richness. ‘Beautiful’ means little more than very pretty or attractive; more or less anything sad or unfortunate is nowadays called ‘tragic’; while the ‘sublime’ features mostly as a place from which the ridiculous can be reached. How has this happened? How have these terms become so hollow? And how is this reflected in how we engage with art today? This thought-provoking day will include a series of short talks by experts from the Philosophy Department at the University of Southampton (a centre of excellence for the philosophy of the arts) and will provide you with the opportunity to learn and engage in discussion of this perplexing transformation in our engagement with art.
Places are limited, so book your place early to avoid disappointment.
For further information go to: southampton.likn.co/lifelonglearning