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"To be clear-headed rather than confused; lucid rather than obscure; rational rather than otherwise; and to be neither more, nor less, sure of things than is justifiable by argument or evidence. That is worth trying for."
-- Geoffrey Warnock
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
Aesthetics, Philosophy of Art, Philosophy of Music, Philosophy of Perception (esp. Sound)
AREAS OF COMPETENCE
Philosophy of Literature, Philosophy of Mind, Ethics, David Hume
CURRENT POSITION
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
EDUCATION
Ph. D. (2007) King's College London
M. A. (2000) University of Bristol
B. M. (1997) Berklee College of Music
PUBLICATIONS
(2010) "Understanding Manipulative Performance Art". Philosophical Frontiers, vol. 5 (1): 43-54.
Some pieces of performance art are inherently manipulative—that is, they inherently involve the manipulation of unsuspecting passersby. But what does it mean for a piece of performance art to be inherently manipulative? By distinguishing first-order from second-order kinds of attention, an inherently manipulative work is one that depends on an engagement with the second-order kind of attention for a proper understanding or appreciation of that work. Such works may be inherently manipulative, but it remains to be seen whether such qualities of the work should thereby count as moral or aesthetic flaws of the work.
(2010) "The 'Fine Art' of Pornography?". In Porn - Philosophy for Everyone , ed. Dave Monroe. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 153-165.
Can pornographic works have artistic value? Much pornography closely resembles art, at least in many superficial respects. Is there any reason to believe that pornographic works cannot have artistic value? Some philosophers have argued that they can, but these “pro-pornographic-art” philosophers also seem to suggest that the artistic value of the work is somewhat independent of the work’s pornographic content—that is, a work can have artistic value despite its having pornographic content. I think that is probably true; however I also find that to be a fairly weak argument. A stronger argument in defense of “pornographic art” would hold that a work has its artistic value by virtue of its having some pornographic content. This would be the claim that, in some instances at least, one discovers the artistic value of a work through taking a pornographic interest in that work. That would be very interesting if true. Unfortunately, I think that it probably is not. In this essay I argue that taking a “pornographic interest” in a work is contrary to the requirements for taking an “artistic interest” in a work. So, pornographic works cannot have artistic value by virtue of their pornographic content.
BOOK REVIEWS
REFERENCES
Conrad Ostwalt, Appalachian State University
Kim Hall, Appalachian State University
Matthew Kieran, Leeds University
Robert Hopkins, Sheffield University