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92Musical expressivenessPhilosophy Compass 2 (3). 2007.This article assesses the current state of the philosophical debate regarding the expression of emotion in music, or expressive properties of music. It defines the question, explores a few false‐starts and then considers the solution that expressive properties are a matter of a certain ‘way of appearing’ of the music. This solution is associated with Stephen Davies and Jerrold Levinson, whose work is discussed. It is argued that work in this area has reached an impasse, and it is not clear where…Read more
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31Introducing Philosophy of Art: In Eight Case StudiesRoutledge. 2012.Derek Matravers introduces students to the philosophy of art through a close examination of eight famous works of twentieth-century art. Each work has been selected in order to best illustrate and illuminate a particular problem in aesthetics. Each artwork forms a basis for a single chapter and readers are introduced to such issues as artistic value, intention, interpretation, and expression through a careful analysis of the artwork. Questions considered include what does art mean in contemporar…Read more
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33Imagination, Fiction, and DocumentaryIn Noel Carroll & John Gibson (eds.), Narrative, Emotion, and Insight, Penn State University. pp. 173. 2011.In this paper I argue against the current consensus that there is such a thing as 'the philosophy of fiction'. I argue instead that what are taken to be problems with fiction, are in fact problems with narrative more generally
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18Expression in the ArtsIn Peter Goldie (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Emotion, Oxford University Press. 2009.This is an overview of, and criticism of, theories on the role of the emotions in accounting for expression in the arts - both music and painting
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37Amy Coplan argues that recent work in the philosophy of the emotions suggests that film is more effective that literature in inducing non-cognitive affect. Derek Matravers replies to this, and suggests reasons for scepticism
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71Expression in MusicIn Kathleen Stock (ed.), Philosophers on Music: Experience, Meaning, and Work, Oxford University Press. 2007.This is a critical review of the current state of the debate in the philosophy of music, and defends the author's view as the phenomenology of the experience
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85Is Boring art just Boring?Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 53 (4): 425-426. 1995.Recent articles in this journal by Frances Colpitt and Richard Lind have attempted to defend some works of minimal and conceptual art against the charge of being boring. I am skeptical about both of these attempts
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115Fiction and NarrativeOxford University Press. 2014.Do fictions depend upon imagination? Derek Matravers argues against the mainstream view that they do, and offers an original account of what it is to read, listen to, or watch a narrative. He downgrades the divide between fiction and non-fiction, largely dispenses with the imagination, and in doing so illuminates a succession of related issues
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48Institutional definitions and reasonsBritish Journal of Aesthetics 47 (3): 251-257. 2007.The paper examines certain aspects of institutionalist definitions of art, in particular whether they are committed to ‘indexing’, whereby calling something art makes it art. It is argued that there is no such commitment and that institutionalist definitions need not abandon the idea that works of art become art for specific, and substantial, reasons. The question is how reasons can be accommodated. A proposal from defenders of ‘cluster theories’ is considered and rejected. Another proposal is a…Read more
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219Fictional assent and the (so-called) `puzzle of imaginative resistance'In Matthew Kieran & Dominic McIver Lopes (eds.), Imagination, Philosophy, and the Arts, Routledge. pp. 91-106. 2003.This article criticises existing solutions to the 'puzzle of imaginative resistance', reconstrues it, and offers a solution of its own. About the Book : Imagination, Philosophy and the Arts is the first comprehensive collection of papers by philosophers examining the nature of imagination and its role in understanding and making art. Imagination is a central concept in aesthetics with close ties to issues in the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of language, yet it has not received the kind …Read more
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129Debates in Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology (edited book)Routledge. 2002.This textbook reflects the buoyant state of contemporary political philosophy, and the development of the subject in the past two decades. It includes seminal papers on fundamental philosophical issues such as: the nature of social explanation distributive justice liberalism and communitarianism citizenship and multiculturalism nationalism democracy criminal justice. A range of views is represented, demonstrating the richness of the philosophical contribution to some of the most contested areas …Read more
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16Contemplating Art: Essays in Aesthetics: Book Reviews (review)British Journal of Aesthetics 47 (4): 441-442. 2007.
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7Aesthetic PropertiesAristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 79 191-227. 2005.[Derek Matravers] Jerrold Levinson maintains that he is a realist about aesthetic properties. This paper considers his positive arguments for such a view. An argument from Roger Scruton, that aesthetic realism would entail the absurd claim that many aesthetic predicates were ambiguous, is also considered and it is argued that Levinson is in no worse position with respect to this argument than anyone else. However, Levinson cannot account for the phenomenon of aesthetic autonomy: namely, that we …Read more
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95Empathy as a Route to KnowledgeIn Amy Coplan & Peter Goldie (eds.), Empathy. Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives, Oxford University Pres. pp. 19. 2011.Is it epistemologically better to feel an emotion that someone is having, rather than just believing he or she is having the emotion? This is the question that Derek Matravers is raising.
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5Collected essays on philosophers (review)British Journal for the History of Philosophy 24 (6): 1227-1230. 2016.
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191Art, expression and emotionIn Berys Nigel Gaut & Dominic Lopes (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics, Routledge. 2000.The primary use of such terms as "sadness" and "joy" is to refer to the mental states of people. In such cases, the claim that someone is sad is equivalent to the claim that they feel sad. However, our use of emotion terms is broader than this; a funeral is a sad occasion, a wedding is a happy event. In such cases, a justification can be given for the use of the word. For example, it is part of what is meant by "sadness" that events such as funerals are an appropriate object for such emotions an…Read more
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58Arousal theoriesIn Theodore Gracyk & Andrew Kania (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Music, Routledge. 2011.This survey article looks at various arousal theories which aim to illuminate the connection between music and the emotions
Israel
Areas of Specialization
Aesthetics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Value Theory, Miscellaneous |
Areas of Interest
Aesthetics |
Meta-Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
Value Theory, Miscellaneous |