Aesthetics for Birds

Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art for Everyone

April 3, 2020
by Alex King
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AFB’S TERMS OF ART #10: IMAGINATION

Now that increasing numbers of people are stuck at home and sheltering in place, I figured I’d do a little series. Every weekday for the duration of this intense period, I’ll post a short definition of some term in/related to aesthetics and philosophy of art. Let’s see how this goes! See them all here. Terms of Art #10: imagination

April 18, 2018
by Aesthetics for Birds
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#nofilter: Philosophical Reflections on Photography in the Age Of Instagram

What follows is a guest post by Daniel Star (Boston University). All photographs are the author’s own. (Readers are encouraged to follow the links in captions for full-size, full-resolution images.) We’ve all seen it. Maybe we’ve done it. Maybe we’ve “liked” it. Someone takes a snapshot of a wonderful sunset with a smartphone and posts it on a social media site with the “#nofilter” hashtag. This is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram, and it is now also used widely on Facebook and Twitter. The sunset was no doubt beautiful (sunsets tend to be beautiful), but it’s unlikely that the photograph itself was of a high quality – smartphone shots rarely are, and even a setting sun will tend to blow out highlights (bright regions in images, see below), leaving empty space in part of the photo. Perhaps this doesn’t matter, because the point of such a social … Continue reading

April 19, 2017
by Rebecca Millsop
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Workshop: Art, Perception and History

The American Society for Aesthetics Board of Trustees has approved support for the Workshop on Art, Perception, and History, at the University of Toronto, May 5-6, 2017. The Workshop is organized by Sonia Sedivy, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto. ASA has awarded up to $4,600 in support, plus an additional $1000 to support attendance at the Workshop by ASA student members. Support is also being provided by several units of the University of Toronto. The workshop is free and open to the public. CONFERENCE WEB SITE NEW! Poster for the Workshop   Speakers at the workshop will include: From Art History Whitney Davis, University of California, Berkeley, Art History http://arthistory.berkeley.edu/person/1639581-whitney-davis Jason Gaiger, University of Oxford, The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art http://www.rsa.ox.ac.uk/people/jason-gaiger Amy Powell, University of California, Irvine, Art History http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5553 Paul G. Smith, University of Warwick, History of Art https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/arthistory/staff/smith/ From Philosophy of Art or … Continue reading

February 8, 2017
by Rebecca Millsop
0 comments

ASA Funds Workshop on Art, Perception, and History

The American Society for Aesthetics Board of Trustees has approved support for the Workshop on Art, Perception, and History, at the University of Toronto, May 5-6, 2017. The Workshop is organized by Sonia Sedivy, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto. ASA has awarded up to $4,600 in support, plus an additional $1000 to support attendance at the Workshop by ASA student members. Support is also being provided by several units of the University of Toronto. The workshop is free and open to the public. Speakers will include: From Art History Whitney Davis, University of California, Berkeley, Art History http://arthistory.berkeley.edu/person/1639581-whitney-davis Jason Gaiger, University of Oxford, The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art http://www.rsa.ox.ac.uk/people/jason-gaiger Amy Powell, University of California, Irvine, Art History http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5553 Paul G. Smith, University of Warwick, History of Art https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/arthistory/staff/smith/ From Philosophy of Art or Perception Diarmuid Costello, philosophy, University of Warwick http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/people/costello/ Robert Hopkins, New York … Continue reading

December 15, 2016
by Aesthetics for Birds
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Philosopher-Artist Interview: Scott Walden

Philosopher and Photographer Scott Walden interviewed by Alex King Scott Walden’s research focuses on the intersection between the philosophies of art, mind and language, with an emphasis on photography. These philosophical interests inform his photographic practice, which has been recognized by multiple grants and the 2007 Duke and Duchess of York Prize in Photography from the Canada Council for the Arts. As Associate Professor at Nassau Community College he is a 2016 recipient of the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities. Walden divides his time between New York and Newfoundland.

April 25, 2014
by Aesthetics for Birds
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Are There Objects of Olfactory Perception?

What follows is a guest post by Clare Batty. Clare is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kentucky. She received her B.A. (Hons.) in Philosophy from Simon Fraser University in 1999, and her Ph.D. from MIT in 2007.  She works primarily in the philosophy of mind and, in particular, the philosophy of perception. Her current research focuses on olfactory experience. Her recent publications include “Olfactory Objects” (forthcoming, Perception and is Modalities, ed. S. Biggs, D., Stokes and M. Matthen, OUP), “The Illusion Confusion” (Frontiers), and “Smelling Lessons” (Philosophical Studies).  I want to start with a disclaimer.  I do not work in aesthetics.  Some of my future projects, however, will move toward discussions of olfaction and aesthetics.  What I want to do in the entry is fairly simple.  I want to draw some connections between what philosophers of perception, and the empirical researchers they draw from, discuss and show how that … Continue reading

September 6, 2013
by Aesthetics for Birds
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Conference on Evaluative Perception

Good News: Over the last 10 years or so there has been a noticeable increase in the number of truly outstanding conferences dedicated to issues either within Philosophical Aesthetics or at its various points of intersection with other philosophical subfields.  Bad News: These conferences are increasingly, if not now almost exclusively, based in the UK or Continental Europe. As a result, US-based Aestheticians, at least those without obscene personal travel allowances, find themselves unable to do more than stare with aching longing at all the shiny conference programs filled with philosophical delights just out of reach. Case in point: the upcoming three-day conference on Evaluative Perception at University of Glasgow (Sept. 15-18) featuring keynote talks from: Robert Audi (Notre Dame)Dominic Lopes (British Colombia)Jack Lyons (Arkansas)Sarah McGrath (Princeton)Paul Noordhof (York)Susanna Siegel (Harvard)Kathleen Stock (Sussex)Dustin Stokes (Utah)Pekka Väyrynen (Leeds)Conference details can be found here