Postgraduate "Work In Progress" Seminar
Postgraduate Work-In-Progress SeminarA weekly seminar for Philosophy postgraduates to present their in-progress work, followed by a well-spirited trip to the pub. OverviewThe WIP provides a risk-free and supportive space for postgraduates to present their work and receive feedback from other graduates and faculty.
Attendance optional but highly recommended. All postgraduates are welcome to present or attend -- whether MA, MPhil, PhD, Visitors, etc. Useful InfoThe WIP is a unique opportunity for graduates to develop their presenting and writing skills, take risks, test out ideas, and receive constructive feedback from peers.
Presentations need not be watertight or polished pieces at all. You are encouraged to present work at all stages of the writing process. Should you present?Are you a postgraduate? Then yes, you should present. |
NEXT TALKRozemin Keshvani (PhD) Kant Thursday 25/06/2026 5pm - 6:15pm S1.50 ORGANISERS |
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CANCELLED: Postgraduate Work in Progress Seminar
Speaker: Adam Bainbridge
Title: How to Appreciate Art (according to the critics)
Respondent: Gianluca Lorenzini
What is it to appreciate a work of art? For example, is it coherent to say “That’s a good sculpture, but I don’t like it”?
Analytic philosophers of art who think about art criticism typically agree that successful criticism must be evaluative. They claim that critics must judge the value of artworks, as art. But philosophical consensus quickly unravels into disagreements about how judgements are to be justified, and into disagreements about what makes artistic value valuable.
These philosophical divergences emerge in different beliefs about what a “proper” encounter with a work of art amounts to. In this talk, I want to suggest that the philosophers are not paying adequate attention to the actual practice of art criticism. I will introduce three possible ways of understanding appreciation in this context and I’ll ask: is there a relationship between our beliefs about an artwork’s value and our susceptibility to experience affective and emotional responses? I will argue that to appreciate an artwork is not merely to recognise its value, it is to incorporate the work into our lives.