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An open-access journal for articles, interviews and book reviews

Debates in Aesthetics is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal for articles, interviews and book reviews. Published by the British Society of Aesthetics, the journal’s principal aim is to provide the philosophical community with a dedicated venue for debate in aesthetics and the philosophy of art.

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Volume 19 No 1

In this issue there are five original articles, a symposium on Thomas Wartenberg’s Thoughtful Images: Illustrating Philosophy Through Art with responses to the book by Claire Anscomb and Derek Matravers and replies from the author, and  interviews with Thomas Wartenberg, Noël Carroll, and Richard Shusterman.

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Volume 18 No 1

In this issue there are three original articles, two of which examine issues related to metaphor as understood by Donald Davidson (Cavazzana) and Conceptual Metaphor Theorists and Gestalt Psychologists (Verstegen), while another examines how appreciative behaviour comes to be associated with different categories of art (Sen). There is also an interview with poet Ralf Webb, where he discusses his debut collection Rotten Days in Late Summer and the relationship between authors and readers (Wallbank), and a review of the recently published Looking Through Images: A Phenomenology of Visual Media examining how Emanuel Alloa answers the question “what is an image?” (Charalabidou).

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Alessandro Cavazzana
Kiyohiro Sen
Ian Verstegen
Rebecca Wallbank
Fotini Charalabidou
Chiara Montalti
Filomena Parente
Laura Partin

 

Volume 17 No 2

In this special issue devoted to the Sixth British Society of Aesthetics Postgraduate Conference, there are two original articles exploring the themes of the conference: issues in aesthetics related to nature and technology. One article seeks an understanding of our aesthetic constitution through an examination of the relationship between human and nature (Parente), while the other explores how non-human-like prostheses affect readings of disability in the context of visual art (Montalti). There is also an interview where Laura Partin discusses the notion of deception in contemporary art with the artist Santiago Sierra.

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Table of Contents

  • EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION
    Sarah Kiernan and Claire Anscomb
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  • LISA BUFANO AND AIMEE MULLINS: DISABILITY AND THE AESTHETIC OF NON-HUMAN-LIKE PROSTHESES
    Chiara Montalti
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  • ART, ARTEFACT AND NATURE IN GILLO DORFLES’S WORK. FOR AN UNDERSTANDING OF OUR AESTHETIC CONSTITUTION
    Filomena Parente
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  • “FOR A BRUTAL REALITY I NEED A BRUTAL LANGUAGE”. DECEPTION IN CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE ARTIST’S PERSPECTIVE: INTERVIEW WITH SANTIAGO SIERRA
    Laura Partin
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Volume 17 No 1

In this general issue there are three original articles that explore a multitude of topics including: the nature of architectural value; whether there can be authorless works of fiction; and the relation between light art and somaesthetic experience. There is also an interview with Rafe McGregor, where he discusses his recent book, Narrative Justice.

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Table of Contents

  • EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION
    Sarah Kiernan and Claire Anscomb
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  • ARCHITECTURAL VALUE AND THE ARTISTIC VALUE OF ARCHITECTURE
    Harry Drummond
    * Winner of Debates in Aesthetics Essay Prize 2021 *
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  • TRUTH IN FICTION & NATURAL STORIES: ABOUT AN ARGUMENT
    Guillaume Schuppert
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  • THE CONTEMPLATIVE WALKING IN LIGHT: SOMAESTHETIC EXPERIENCE IN THE PROJECTS OF ANN VERONICA JANSSENS AND OLAFUR ELIASSON
    Marta Risco Ruiz
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  • AESTHETIC EDUCATION VIA NARRATIVE REPRESENTATION: AN INTERVIEW WITH RAFE MCGREGOR
    Matija Rajter
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Harry Drummond
Guillaume Schuppert
Marta Risco Ruiz
Matija Rajter
Cheryl Frazier and Nadia Mehdi
Eliza Ives
Mojca Kuplen
Britt Harrison

 

Volume 16 No 1

In this general issue there are three original articles that range in topic from the ethics and aesthetics of the ‘body positivity’ movement, what it means to read literature as literature, and Kant’s theory of laughter. There is also a book review examining whether the title of the recently published volume, Philosophy and Film: Bridging Divides, delivers on its promise.

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Volume 15 No 2

For this special issue Paul C. Taylor wrote a target article to which the philosophical community was invited to respond. Taylor’s article, ‘Black Reconstruction in Aesthetics’, can be seen as an extension of his earlier work, notably Black is Beautiful (2016) which was awarded the ASA monograph prize in 2017. The new issue includes Taylor’s article, responses by Joshua M. Hall, James Haile III, Falguni A. Sheth, and Rossen Ventzislavov, and a reply to these authors by Taylor. The issue is available to read and download on the Debates in Aesthetics website.

Paul C. Taylor
Joshua M. Hall
James Haile III
Falguni A. Sheth
Rossen Ventzislavov

Table of Contents

  • INTRODUCTION
    Claire Anscomb & Eleen M Deprez
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  • BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AESTHETICS
    Paul C. Taylor
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  • SOUTHERN BLACK WOMEN’S CANEBRAKE GARDENS, RESPONDING TO TAYLOR’S CALL FOR AESTHETIC RECONSTRUCTION
    Joshua M. Hall
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  • BLACK “RECONSTRUCTION”; OR THE AFROCENTRIC HOME REPAIR MANUAL PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTIONS ON PAUL C. TAYLOR’S “BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN AESTHETICS”
    James Haile III
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  • RECONSTRUCTION OR DECOLONISATION?
    PAUL TAYLOR’S ‘BLACK RECONSTRUCTION IN ETHICS’
    Falguni A. Sheth
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  • BLACK AESTHETICS: RECONSTRUCTION THROUGH RESOCIALISATION
    Rossen Ventzislavov
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  • DISCIPLINE, DETERMINATION, DISCERNMENT: IN REPLY
    Paul C. Taylor
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Volume 15 No 1

In this general issue there are three original articles that range in topic from the use of technology to facilitate sublime experiences, the static-dynamic puzzle of still life works, to the role of authenticity in aesthetic appreciation. We are also happy to present an interview with Terry Diffey, emeritus professor at the University of Sussex and long-standing member of the British Society of Aesthetics.

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