What do modern art, a symphony, and a documentary film have in common? They all require aesthetic considerations. This program presents the ideas of key figures in the shaping and understanding of aesthetics—from Plato, Francis Hutcheson, and Kant to Leon Battista Alberti, Stendhal, and Tolstoy—and addresses pivotal writings, including Aristotle’s Poetics and Morris Weitz’s “The Role of Theory in Aesthetics.” Columbia University’s Arthur Danto and Princeton University’s Alexander Nehamas offer keen insights into the interactions between artist, artwork, and audience as they have evolved over the centuries. (51 minutes)