Critiques of beauty in art and in everyday life assume the traditional idea that aesthetic value is a kind of power to please. An entirely new picture comes from a close look at intricately structured networks of agents who interact with each other in aesthetic enterprises. Aesthetic values give us reasons to act in the context of social practices. The “network theory” explains why, despite the critiques, beauty never disappeared from art, why it’s as humanly important as ever, and how it can be harnessed to address pressing social problems.
Introduction by Noël Carroll, CUNY Graduate Center
a lecture by Dominic McIver Lopes
Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, the author of Understanding Pictures, Sight and Sensibility, Computer Art, Beyond Art, Four Arts of Photography, and Being for Beauty (in progress).
6pm, Wednesday, 27 September
Lang Recital Hall, Hunter College
(North Building, 4th Floor)
Sponsored by the departments of
Art and Philosophy
PoPRocks (formerly known as ‘WoPoP’) is an ongoing series in the NYC area for early career researchers – typically grad students and postdocs – working on philosophy of psychology/mind/perception/cognitive science/neuroscience/… . We meet roughly once every 2 weeks at 10.30-12.30 on Fridays in CUNY’s Graduate Center (Room 7113) to informally discuss a draft paper by one of our members. Typically presenters send a copy of their paper around 1 week in advance, so do join the mailing list (by emailing poprocksworkshop@gmail.com or one of the organizers) or email to ask for a copy of the paper. We aim for a friendly, constructive discussion with the understanding that the drafts discussed are typically work in progress.
September 22nd – Sam Clarke (Oxford)
October 20 – Simon Brown (Columbia)
November 3rd – David Barack (Columbia)
December 1st – Andrew Lee (NYU)