While most Objectivists are well aware of Ayn Rand’s towering contributions to the major fields of philosophy—metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics—fewer perhaps are aware that her ideas have powerful significance for the field of aesthetics as well. The purpose of this course is to explain why this is so. Dr. Wood will introduce the basic questions of aesthetics and show how they have been answered at different times in the history of Western philosophy. Special attention will be given to how these answers have reflected the philosophers’ fundamental premises about the nature of the universe and how our minds grasp it. In particular, Dr. Wood will illuminate Ayn Rand’s point that Kant’s philosophy is the root of modern “art.” The course will conclude with an examination of the Objectivist aesthetics and why they represent a revolutionary development.