•  378
    Learning Implicit Biases from Fiction
    Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 80 (2): 129-139. 2022.
    Philosophers and psychologists have argued that fiction can ethically educate us: fiction supposedly can make us better people. This view has been contested. It is, however, rarely argued that fiction can morally “corrupt” us. In this article, we focus on the alleged power of fiction to decrease one's prejudices and biases. We argue that if fiction has the power to change prejudices and biases for the better, then it can also have the opposite effect. We further argue that fictions are more like…Read more
  •  207
    The Affective Experience of Aesthetic Properties
    Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 100 (1): 283-300. 2018.
    It is widely agreed upon that aesthetic properties, such as grace, balance, and elegance, are perceived. I argue that aesthetic properties are experientially attributed to some non‐perceptible objects. For example, a mathematical proof can be experienced as elegant. In order to give a unified explanation of the experiential attribution of aesthetic properties to both perceptible and non‐perceptible objects, one has to reject the idea that aesthetic properties are perceived. I propose an alternat…Read more
  •  93
    An empirical investigation of guilty pleasures
    Philosophical Psychology 32 (7): 1129-1155. 2019.
    In everyday language, the expression ‘guilty pleasure’ refers to instances where one feels bad about enjoying a particular artwork. Thus, one’s experience of guilty pleasure seems to involve the feeling that one should not enjoy this particular artwork and, by implication, the belief that there are norms according to which some aesthetic responses are more appropriate than others. One natural assumption would be that these norms are first and foremost aesthetic norms. However, this suggestion ru…Read more
  •  92
    Music feels like moods feel
    Frontiers in Psychology 5 327. 2014.
    While it is widely accepted that music evokes moods, there is disagreement over whether music-induced moods are relevant to the aesthetic appreciation of music as such. The arguments against the aesthetic relevance of music-induced moods are: moods cannot be intentionally directed at the music and music-induced moods are highly subjective experiences and are therefore a kind of mind-wandering. This paper presents a novel account of musical moods that avoids these objections. It is correct to say…Read more
  •  86
    According to componential theories of emotional experience, emotional experiences are phenomenally complex in that they consist of experiential parts, which may include cognitive appraisals, bodily feelings, and action tendencies. These componential theories face the problem of emotional unity: Despite their complexity, emotional experiences also seem to be phenomenologically unified. Componential theories have to give an account of this unity. We argue that existing accounts of emotional unity …Read more
  •  79
    Some emotional representations seem to be unreliable. For instance, we are often afraid when there is no danger present. If emotions such as fear are so unreliable, what function do they have in our representational system? This is a problem for representationalist theories of emotion. I will argue that seemingly unreliable emotional representations are reliable after all. While many mental states strike an optimal balance between minimizing inaccurate representations and maximizing accurate rep…Read more
  •  46
    Some emotional representations seem to be unreliable. For instance, we are often afraid when there is no danger present. If emotions such as fear are so unreliable, what function do they have in our representational system? This is a problem for representationalist theories of emotion. I will argue that seemingly unreliable emotional representations are reliable after all. While many mental states strike an optimal balance between minimizing inaccurate representations and maximizing accurate rep…Read more
  •  41
    In this paper, I defend the judgementalist theory of emotion against the argument from recalcitrant emotions. Judgementalism holds that a necessary condition for being in an emotional state is that an evaluative belief is formed. Recalcitrant emotions are emotions that contradict endorsed beliefs and judgements. The argument from recalcitrant emotions states that a judgementalist explanation of recalcitrant emotions results in the absurd conclusion that one would hold two contradictory beliefs. …Read more
  •  36
    Biased Emotions: Implicit Bias, emotion & attributability
    Review of Philosophy and Psychology 14 (4): 1237-1255. 2023.
    The topic of this paper is what I will call “biased emotion”. Biased emotions are emotions which are influenced by implicit bias. An example is racially biased fear. A person who explicitly denies that every black man is dangerous, might implicitly have the tendency to be afraid of black men. Biased emotions lead to certain types of behavior, such as avoidance behavior out of fear. Some have argued that behavioral expressions of biased emotions are not attributable. Because fearful behavior is s…Read more
  •  21
    The linguistic fallacy & the complex content of emotion
    Philosophical Psychology. forthcoming.
    Some argue that emotions represent so-called core relational themes. A core relational theme describes a relation between a particular event and an organism’s well-being. For instance, the core relational theme of anger is ‘a demeaning offense against me and mine’. I argue that a core relational theme is a summary or generalization of a more complex mental content. Defenders of the Simple Core Relational Theme View reject the idea that emotional content is complex. Instead, they argue that the c…Read more
  •  14
    Corrigendum to: 100 × Congo: A Century of Congolese Art in Antwerp
    British Journal of Aesthetics 62 (1): 157-157. 2022.
  •  11
    100 × Congo: A Century of Congolese Art in Antwerp
    British Journal of Aesthetics 61 (3): 387-389. 2021.
    100 × Congo: A Century of Congolese Art in Antwerp museum aan de stroom, antwerp. 3 october 2020–12 september 2021
  •  6
    Belgian Solutions
    British Journal of Aesthetics. forthcoming.
    Belgian Solutions is a photography project by Brussels-based German artist David Helbich. His works include sound art, performances, and conceptual works. Belgi.