Welcome
The Scottish Aesthetics Forum (SAF) aims to support and promote study and research in aesthetics across Scotland. We invite speakers to deliver a lecture open to the public at a Scottish university on an aesthetics-related topic of their choice.
We choose to address a wide array of interests in the field of aesthetics, including analytic and continental philosophical approaches, as well as interdisciplinary approaches spanning across the arts, humanities and sciences.
Our events are free and open to all.
The SAF is generously funded by the British Society of Aesthetics and the Scots Philosophical Association.
We are currently hosted by the University of St Andrews, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Glasgow.
The SAF is also affiliated with the London Aesthetics Forum and the Welsh Aesthetics Forum.
Our Next Event
Abstract
(To come)
And then ...
Friday 8 May, 4.00pm (UK)
In person (St Andrews) and on Zoom
Speaker: Dawn Wilson (Hull)
Subscribe to our Newsletter to receive details of events, as well as Zoom links for all online talks!
The Organisers
Stacie Friend
Stacie is a Reader in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. She is the President of the British Society of Aesthetics and previously helped to organise the London Aesthetics Forum. Her research focuses on issues at the intersection of aesthetics, language and mind, especially in relation to our engagement with fictional narratives. In studying this engagement, she has collaborated with researchers in other disciplines, most recently as Director of the project ‘Art Opening Minds: Imagination and Perspective in Film’, funded by the Templeton Religion Trust.
Edinburgh Team
Christopher Earley
Chris is is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on the epistemology of art, why artists love to break rules, and the ways aesthetic artefacts help us to figure out our place in history.
Patrick Hayes
Pat is a PhD student at the University of Glasgow. Their research interests include virtue theoretical approaches to understanding aesthetic value and justifying aesthetic judgments, engagement, aesthetic blameworthiness, the unity of virtues, and the philosophy of film where it intersects with sociology in the shaping of identities, the reinforcing or dispelling of cultural narratives, and the creation of alternative public spaces.
Glasgow Team
Jodi Miller
Jodi is currently completing her PhD at the University of Glasgow. Her research interests include the work of Susanne K. Langer, particularly her theory of expression and re-examining it in a contemporary art context, the philosophy of music, and expression within artistic practice and in experimental and improvisational works of art.
St Andrews Team
Tom Baker
Tom is an Associate Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews. His research interests include the so-called ‘lower-senses’ (e.g. smell, taste, and touch) and their relevance to our aesthetic appreciation of art and non-art artefacts, moral learning from interactive fiction, the reliability of aesthetic introspection, and whether the marginalisation of certain aesthetic practices amounts to an (aesthetic) injustice.
Lisa Jones
Lisa is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews. Her research interests include the philosophy of literature, and of fiction, particularly with respect to their cognitive and moral value. She has also worked on appropriation and copying within art, and – more recently – on the aesthetic aspects of pro-wrestling.
Nicholas Wiltsher
Nick is Lecturer in Philosophy at St Andrews. He works on various topics in aesthetics, including social identity, expression theory, fiction, and music.
Contact us
We would love to hear from you! If you are interested in giving a talk at SAF, know someone who would, or would like to collaborate on a project, let us know.
We adopt the BPA/SWIP Good Practice Scheme.