Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Areas of Interest
Aesthetics
PhilPapers Editorships
Media Ethics
  •  343
    _Contemporary Debates in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art_ features pairs of newly commissioned essays by some of the leading theorists working in the field today. Brings together fresh debates on eleven of the most controversial issues in aesthetics and the philosophy of art Topics addressed include the nature of beauty, aesthetic experience, artistic value, and the nature of our emotional responses to art. Each question is treated by a pair of opposing essays written by eminent scholars, a…Read more
  •  5
    Philosophical Aesthetics and the Sciences of Art (edited book)
    Cambridge University Press. 2014.
    Musical listening, looking at paintings and literary creation are activities that involve perceptual and cognitive activity and so are of interest to psychologists and other scientists of the mind. What sorts of interest should philosophers of the arts take in scientific approaches to such issues? Opinion currently ranges across a spectrum, with 'take no notice' at one end and 'abandon traditional philosophical methods' at the other. This collection of essays, originating in a Royal Institute of…Read more
  •  8
    _Contemporary Debates in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art _features pairs of newly commissioned essays by some of the leading theorists working in the field today. Brings together fresh debates on eleven of the most controversial issues in aesthetics and the philosophy of art Topics addressed include the nature of beauty, aesthetic experience, artistic value, and the nature of our emotional responses to art. Each question is treated by a pair of opposing essays written by eminent scholars, a…Read more
  • Musical listening, looking at paintings and literary creation are activities that involve perceptual and cognitive activity and so are of interest to psychologists and other scientists of the mind. What sorts of interest should philosophers of the arts take in scientific approaches to such issues? Opinion currently ranges across a spectrum, with 'take no notice' at one end and 'abandon traditional philosophical methods' at the other. This collection of essays, originating in a Royal Institute of…Read more
  •  25
    Aesthetics and the Sciences of Mind (edited book)
    with Greg Currie, Aaron Meskin, and Jon Robson
    Oxford University Press. 2014.
    How far should philosophical accounts of the value and interpretation of art be sensitive to the scientific approaches used by psychologists, sociologists, and evolutionary thinkers? A team of experts urge different answers to this question, and explore how empirical inquiry can shed light on problems traditionally regarded as philosophical
  • For the love of art : artistic values and appreciative virtue
    In Anthony O'Hear (ed.), Philosophy and the Arts, Cambridge University Press. 2013.
  •  14
    Creativity as a Virtue of Character
    In Elliot Samuel Paul & Scott Barry Kaufman (eds.), The Philosophy of Creativity, Oxford University Press. 2014.
    Examining the complex role that motivation plays in creativity foregrounds the role of intrinsic motivation in paradigmatic cases of creative achievement. This is significant given the neglect of the role of motivation in the philosophical literature. Furthermore, given the way in which intrinsic motivation typically grounds and enables the cultivation of creativity for creatures like us, it pays to think of creativity in virtue-theoretic terms. As suggested by both empirical and conceptual cons…Read more
  •  16
    Ethical Issues in Journalism and the Media
    Philosophical Quarterly 45 (180): 408-410. 1995.
  •  8
    Landscape, Natural Beauty and the Arts
    Philosophical Quarterly 46 (183): 269-271. 1996.
  •  5
    A Theory of Art
    Mind 111 (441): 81-84. 2002.
  •  22
    Creativity and Philosophy (edited book)
    with Berys Nigel Gaut
    Routledge. 2018.
    An outstanding collection of specially commissioned chapters by leading philosophers who explore the relationship between philosophy and creativity. Essential readings for those interested in the philosophy of creativity, it is also an extremely useful resource for those in related subjects such as music, art and visual studies, literature and education.
  •  384
    Imagination, Philosophy and the Arts (edited book)
    Routledge. 2003.
    _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 of sustained, critical attention it deserves. This collection of seventeen brand new essays critically examines just how and in what form the notion of…Read more
  •  11
    The nature and value of art
    Dissertation, St. Andrews. 1995.
    This thesis examines the nature and value of art. It is primarily concerned to advance an argument which makes sense of the significance we ordinarily afford art, rather than rendering it merely aesthetic and thus cognitively trivial. Contrary to philosophical orthodoxy, it is argued that 'art' does not have two distinct senses. Rather, we should understand art as an inherently evaluative, evolving cultural practice. Thus, I argue, 'art' is essentially a cluster concept. I consider an account of…Read more
  •  2
    Routledge Handbook on Creativity and Philosophy (edited book)
    with Berys Gaut
    Routledge. 2018.
  •  1
    Hume, Holism and Miracles (review)
    Philosophy 76 (2): 312-327. 2001.
  •  27
    Creativity and Philosophy (edited book)
    with Berys Nigel Gaut
    Routledge. 2018.
    An outstanding collection of specially commissioned chapters by leading philosophers who explore the relationship between philosophy and creativity. Essential readings for those interested in the philosophy of creativity, it is also an extremely useful resource for those in related subjects such as music, art and visual studies, literature and education.
  •  56
    A divine intimation: Appreciating natural beauty
    Journal of Value Inquiry 31 (1): 77-95. 1997.
  •  165
    Tragedy is superior to comedy. This is the received view in much philosophical aesthetics, literary criticism and amongst many ordinary literary appreciators. The paper outlines three standard types of reasons given to underwrite the conceptual nature of the superiority claim, focusing on narrative structure, audience response and moral or human significance respectively. It sketches some possible inter-relations amongst the types of reasons given and raises various methodological worries about …Read more
  •  124
    On obscenity: The thrill and repulsion of the morally prohibited
    Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 64 (1): 31-55. 2002.
    The paper proceeds by criticising the central accounts of obscenity proffered by Feinberg, Scruton and the suggestive remarks of Nussbaum and goes on to argue for the following formal characterization of obscenity: x is appropriately judged obscene if and only if either x is appropriately classified as a member of a form or class of objects whose authorized purpose is to solicit and commend to us cognitive-affective responses which are internalized as morally prohibited and does so in ways found…Read more
  •  37
    Incoherence and Musical Appreciation
    The Journal of Aesthetic Education 30 (1): 39. 1996.
  •  14
    Applied Philosophy and Business Ethics
    Journal of Applied Philosophy 12 (2): 175-187. 1995.
    Given the socio‐economic incentives for academic relevance, the sceptic may well challenge the academic integrity of the evolving discipline of business ethics. For, the question is, how could such an emerging field of enquiry constitute applied philosophy? I critically examine certain arguments, principally advanced by Michael Oakeshott and Stephen Clark, which might be thought to underwrite such scepticism, via a wholesale suspicion of applied ethics. Yet, I argue, philosophy can be and is pro…Read more
  •  3
    Creative characters
    The Philosophers' Magazine 58 13-15. 2012.
  •  307
    Apparently snobbery undermines justification for and legitimacy of aesthetic claims. It is also pervasive in the aesthetic realm, much more so than we tend to presume. If these two claims are combined, a fundamental problem arises: we do not know whether or not we are justified in believing or making aesthetic claims. Addressing this new challenge requires an epistemological story which underpins when, where and why snobbish judgement is problematic, and how appreciative claims can survive. This…Read more
  •  68
    Aesthetic Value: Beauty, Ugliness and Incoherence
    Philosophy 72 (281): 383-399. 1997.
    From Plato through Aquinas to Kant and beyond beauty has traditionally been considered the paradigmatic aesthetic quality. Thus, quite naturally following Socrates' strategy in The Meno, we are tempted to generalize from our analysis of the nature and value of beauty, a particular aesthetic value, to an account of aesthetic value generally. When we look at that which is beautiful, the object gives rise to a certain kind of pleasure within us. Thus aesthetic value is characterized in terms of tha…Read more
  •  86
    Revealing Art
    Routledge. 2004.
    Why does art matter to us, and what makes it good? Why is the role of imagination so important in art? Illustrated with carefully chosen colour and black-and-white plates of examples from Michaelangelo to Matisse and Poussin to Pollock, _Revealing Art_ takes us on a compelling and provocative journey. Kieran explores some of the most important questions we can ask ourselves about art: how can art inspire us or disgust us? Is artistic judgement simply a matter of taste? Can art be immoral or obsc…Read more