aesthetics

_Humanities and Social Sciences Communications_ 12. 2025Supported by John McDowell’s conceptualism, Sonia Sedivy develops her conceptual realism as a response to a perplexity she identifies in Arthur C. Danto’s views on the theoretical and historical nature of artworks and their aesthetic properties. Namely, that at least some of these objects and properties are not visible. Considering the conne…

_British Journal of Aesthetics_. forthcomingWhile perceptual experience seems necessary for appreciating some artworks, it is not necessary for appreciating others. We must arguably see a painting or a reproduction of it if we are to appreciate it and listen to a performance or recording of a work of music if we are to appreciate it. However, there are some artworks the appreciation of which does…

Should we save bees or bears? Should you repair the sofa or buy a new one? Allow construction on the beachfront? These apparently technical decisions conceal a deeper truth: they are shaped by our aesthetic education. We prefer forests to swamps because we perceive them as more beautiful. In a society obsessed with the “aesthetic,” we have lost the tools for genuine aesthetic judgment. In this jo…

Attractiveness of the nose affects how people view the face – with attractive noses actually drawing less attention than unattractive noses, reports a study in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

_British Journal of Aesthetics_. forthcomingPanos Paris develops a theory of beauty in terms of wellformedness. Two kinds of wellformedness are key, namely functional and categorial wellformedness. Both kinds would correspond to types of beauty: functional and categorial beauty. The free or abstract beauty of artworks would depend on abstract wellformedness. This is a matter of giving rise to ass…

Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that studies beauty, art, and aesthetic experience. It asks what makes something beautiful, meaningful, or artistically powerful. Why do certain paintings move us, certain pieces of music stay in our minds, or certain landscapes fill us with awe? Are these reactions purely personal, or do they point to something real about the things we are responding to? Fo…

Skin Rejuvenation and Resurfacing Skincare Procedure Skin rejuvenation and resurfacing can be achieved in several ways, ranging from laser and light treatments to chemical peels and injectables. What are the risks of skin rejuvenation and resurfacing? Although it is not as involved as surgical aesthetic procedures, skin rejuvenation is a medical procedure and does carry some risk. Depending on sk…

In this post Matilde Aliffi, PhD student at the University of Birmingham, interviews Derek Matravers (pictured below), who is professor of philosophy at the Open University, and has interests in aesthetics and philosophy of art. Derek is the author of Fiction and Narrative (OUP, 2014) and has recently completed a book on empathy which will be published by Polity Press. MA: You are a

This post is by Dominic McIver Lopes, who teaches at the University of British Columbia and has written books and papers on pictorial representation, photography, the aesthetic and epistemic values of images, computer art, and the nature of art and the ontology of art works. His current project derives an account of aesthetic value from accounts of reasons for aesthetic action. Know