Aesthetics

Philosophy of Wine

Philosophy and Literature

Philosophy of Perception

Aesthetics

History of Philosophy

Examen Philosophicum

Some publications:

Books

The Aesthetic of Wine (w. D. Burnham) (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012)

Philosophy and Literature (Edinburgh University Press, 2001)

Some articles

- Categories and Appreciation – A Reply to Sackris. (w. D. Burnham). Journal of Value Inquiry 2014 ;Volum 48.(3) s. 551-557.

- Natural wine and aesthetics. (w. D. Burnham). In Raw: Architectural Engagements with Nature. Ashgate 2014 . s. 111-126

- 'The Phenomenology of Spirits' (w. D. Burnham), in Whiskey and Philosophy (Wiley, 2010)

- ‘Philosophy and Literature’ (Journal of Literary Theory, 2007)

- ‘Knowledge and Imagination in Fiction and Autobiography’ (Metaphilosophy, 2006)

Aesthetic Expertise

This is a book-length project building on The Aesthetics of Wine (Wiley-Blackwell 2012) (co-written with D. Burnham) where the idea of expertise in aesthetics is analysed, clarified and (in its proper place) defended. 

Why, and if so to what extent, is expert knowledge and expert guidance an important or even essential ingredient in aesthetic appreciation? A number of recent trends in philosophical aesthetics will be addressed, such as the role of context (including art institutions, but also cultural situations), the importance of pleasure, and the importance of education. We will also, as part of our work, interview prominent people in different roles of aesthetic expertise – such as the pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. Our research into aesthetic expertise will have several implications. These include (i) implications for how we should understand and pursue aesthetic education, and likewise the way in which ‘culture’ is supported and broadcast; (ii) a critique of certain dominant contemporary trends in popular criticism, which tend to eschew aesthetic guidance, heavily discount the value of expertise, and insist upon ‘blind’ (or, supposedly, ‘neutral’) experience.