Aesthetic Autonomy and Heteronomy

This one-day conference is intended to examine and clarify the relationship between artworks and extra-aesthetic developments (be they socio-historic, cultural or economic). The view, arguably influenced by a misapprehension of Kant's philosophy, that art can be seen as wholly autonomous (free of extra-aesthetic function, and explicable purely in terms of aesthetic categories) has repeatedly been challenged in the modern history of aesthetics.

Understanding the relationship between art and the extra-aesthetic pertains not only to philosophy of art, but also has implications for a number of other areas of inquiry, such as social philosophy, art history and the study and practice of the arts themselves. The speakers at the conference will therefore examine these questions from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. Each paper will be followed by a 20 – 30 minute discussion.

Confirmed speakers

• Professor Peter Lamarque (Philosophy, University of York)
• Professor Max Paddison (Music, Durham University)
• Dr Andy Hamilton (Philosophy, Durham University)
• Dr Jason Gaiger (Art History, Oxford University)
• Dr Gordon Finlayson (Philosophy, Sussex University)

Call for Papers

The conference will consist of four papers given by academics from a variety of disciplines, together with two graduate papers. The graduate papers should be around 20 minutes in length, and will be followed by 20 minutes of discussion. The conference is intended to be broadly interdisciplinary (see list of confirmed speakers below), and graduate papers are accordingly invited to consider the topic from whichever theoretic background is considered appropriate.

If you are interested in delivering a graduate paper at this conference, please submit an abstract of 500 words to ojh102@york.ac.uk. The deadline for submission is December 20th 2010. Confirmation of acceptance will be sent out by January 2nd.

Programme

For an up to date programme, see the CRICK website

Registration

There will be an attendance fee of £20.00. Registration in advance is required. Please contact the organizer at ojh102@york.ac.uk for advance registration, payment details, or any further enquiries. Payment will be collected in the form of a cheque made out to 'The University of York'. A limited number of graduate bursaries are available. Please contact the conference organiser at ojh102@york.ac.uk.