Introduction to Philosophy and Aesthetics I – 5th Semester

Evangelos Athanasopoulos, Appointed Lecturer

This course provides an overview of the history of philosophy through the lens of the development of aesthetic theories. It covers historical periods including Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the 17th century, and the Enlightenment up to the late 18th century. In particular, it successively presents the arguments drawn from the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic philosophy (Stoics, Epicureans, Skeptics, Cynics), the Greco-Roman tradition, the philosophy of Late Antiquity (Plotinus, Augustine), late Byzantine and Western Christianity, Renaissance philosophers, scholars and artists, as well as philosophers who are, in various ways, linked to the movements of rationalism, empiricism, skepticism, and transcendental idealism. This history course, which is associated with broader cultural, artistic, and scientific contexts, aims to highlight the factors that allow us to accurately define both the concepts of art and artistic activity and their impact on life and thought.

Introduction to Philosophy and Aesthetics 2 – 6th Semester

Evangelos Athanasopoulos, Appointed Lecturer

This course complements the overview of the history of philosophy through the lens of the development of aesthetic theories. Beginning with the peak of the Enlightenment in the late 18th century, the period covered here includes key intellectual movements of the 19th century (such as Idealism, Romanticism, and Aestheticism) up to the early 21st century. Emphasis is placed on the diverse aesthetic positions of artists, writers, and poets in relation to the emerging capitalist mode of production, particularly in conjunction with the gradual rise of human sciences (psychology, anthropology, and the sociology of art). Subsequently, the course examines arguments drawn from 20th-century aesthetic theories across a broad geographical spectrum. This history course, which is linked both to modern philosophical inquiries and to the different artistic and literary expressions of the Modernist period, ultimately aims to highlight the central issues at stake in contemporary aesthetic philosophy.