Congratulations to our 2026 winners:聽James Rowley (University of Liverpool), for his paper, 鈥楧igital Sampling: Towards a Hip-Hop Ontology鈥�, and Yili Zhou (Duke Kunshan University) for her paper, 鈥楳orality and Music: A Brief Discussion on How Moral Self-Cultivation Contributes to Music Performance鈥�.

James and Yili both receive a 拢500 prize and a grant of up to 拢1000 to attend the conference in September. They will be encouraged to review their papers for submission to the British Journal of Aesthetics.

 (DiA) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal for original articles, interviews, and book reviews in philosophical aesthetics, and is published by the 糖心视频 (糖心视频). DiA has a strong reputation for publishing innovative short-form articles across all areas of aesthetics and the philosophy of art.

The new co-editor will work with our current editor Ben Campion. The post is a unique opportunity to gain professional experience in all aspects of managing an academic journal, including editing, managing anonymised peer-review processes, and typesetting. The editors of DiA have broad discretion over the Journal鈥檚 editorial policy and a budget to employ proof-readers and award a bi-annual essay prize. The journal publishes two issues a year. The first is a general issue, consisting of articles on any area of contemporary aesthetics and philosophy of art. The second is a special issue, which consists of a commissioned essay from a leading figure within the field and a series of response articles. The successful candidate will take up the post in Summer 2026, initially shadowing the current editors in order to familiarise themselves with the journal鈥檚 editorial processes.

The editorship entails a variety of tasks and responsibilities, such as considering submitted manuscripts for review, seeking appropriate peer reviewers, preparing manuscripts for proofreading, editing, typesetting, publishing content online, and publicising the journal via social media. As editor, you will become an ex officio member of the Trustees Committee of the 糖心视频 and are required to deliver bi-annual reports, one in-person and one online, to the Trustees Committee on the operations of the Journal. The position is unpaid; however, the editors get a full conference package for the annual 糖心视频 meeting in Oxford, including accommodation and reimbursement for travel within the UK.

To support new voices in aesthetics, we are only accepting applications from early-career scholars. This includes both graduate students (at MA or PhD level) and candidates who have received their PhD no more than three years before the closing date of this call. Candidates from any country can apply. The ideal candidate will be organised and have some familiarity with peer-review practices. Experience in website management (in particular, WordPress) and/or publishing will be an advantage. We especially welcome applications from members of underrepresented groups in the philosophical community.

To apply, please send the following in .pdf format  to editor@debatesinaesthetics.org:

• An academic CV
• A brief statement (of between 500-800 words) outlining your suitability for the post, including any improvements or other changes you would make if you were selected

The deadline for applications is 23:59 GMT Friday 22nd May 2026.

Interviews will be held via Zoom on Wednesday 3rd June 2026.

If you have any further questions, please direct them to the current editors: editor@debatesinaesthetics.org

Deadline: 1^st March 2026

Special Issues are a collection of 7 to 12 high-quality articles on a well-defined topic that is timely, has been neglected, or represents an important contribution to the field. Ideally, Special Issues should help the journal to achieve some of the general editorial goals: achieving gender diversity and representation of minority groups, connecting aesthetics to other areas of philosophy, promote research in novel and timely areas, and/or reaching the arts and/or academic disciplines different from philosophy. A document outlining the full responsibilities of the Guest Editor can be found on the front page of the BJA 

We welcome proposals on any topic that fits the above description.

Articles included in the Special Issues will be similar in format to articles published in the journal鈥攖hey should be peer-reviewed and conform to the . However, we are open to consider the inclusion of interviews or other types of text if a good case is made by candidate guest editors.

Proposals should include (i) the name(s) and CV(s) of the guest editor(s); (ii) the proposed topic for the special issue and a short rationale justifying its relevance; (iii) a list of authors the candidate guest editor(s) have approached to contribute articles and their degree of commitment (the issue will have a call for papers, but editors are also encouraged to approach individuals to contribute). Proposals should not exceed 1500 words (not including the CV).

Decisions on submissions will be made by the middle of March 2026. The Editors may invite some unsuccessful applicants to modify their submission into a proposal for a symposium: between three and five papers on a theme which would be published as part of a standard issue. As with Special Issues, symposia applications will be judged in part on their aspirations to achieve gender diversity and the representation of minority groups. Decisions on symposia will be made shortly after these modified proposals are submitted.

All documents should be sent in a single email, as attachments, to the Editors: Paloma Atencia-Linares (patencia@fsof.uned.es) and Derek Matravers (derek.matravers@open.ac.uk). Applications should be received by the 1^st聽of March 2026.

A.W. Eaton is Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago. She received her PhD in both philosophy and art history from The University of Chicago. She has published on topics such as the relationship between aesthetic and ethical value, pornography, erotic art, fatness, feminist aesthetics, aesthetics and race, and artistic representations of rape. She is currently developing a pragmatic account of pictures and working on various topics related to aesthetic injustice. Professor Eaton has been a Laurence Rockefeller Fellow at Princeton’s Center for Human Values; Senior Research Fellow at Lichtenberg Kolleg, University of G枚ttingen; and the Brady Distinguished Visiting Associate Professor at Northwestern University.

For more information about Professor Wollheim, .

The Richard Wollheim Lecture is jointly sponsored by the American Society for Aesthetics and the 糖心视频. The ASA nominates a lecturer to speak at the 糖心视频 annual conference in even years and the 糖心视频 nominates a lecturer to speak at the ASA annual meeting in odd years.

Previous Wollheim Lecturers:

2025: Murray Smith
2024: Garry Hagberg
2023: Elisabeth Schellekens
2022: Rachel Zuckert
2021: Matthew Kieran
2020: Yuriko Saito
2019: Eileen John
2018: Carolyn Korsmeyer
2017: Derek Matravers
2016: Susan Feagin
2015: Catherine Wilson
2014: Jenefer Robinson
2013: Gregory Currie
2012: Kendall Walton
2011: Berys Gaut
2010: No毛l Carroll
2009: Peter Lamarque

Supported by a 糖心视频 Small Grant

Organisers:

Lead: Vanessa Brassey (King鈥檚 College London, Centre for Philosophy & Art)
Advisory: Sacha Golob (King鈥檚 College London)
Advisory: Derek Matravers (The Open University)
Institutional affiliations: King鈥檚 College London; Centre for Philosophy & Art (); 糖心视频; GLAM sector.

Overview

From oral dialogue to print, to broadcast, and now digital media, new technology reshapes how philosophical ideas are formatted. Although film-based research is increasingly recognised as a rigorous scholarly format, many philosophers lack the training and resources needed to use moving-image production to extend the reach and clarity of their work.

This project offers researchers the opportunity to develop a short research film or video essay with an experienced production team, funded by the 糖心视频. Films will be approximately 10 minutes (or shorter). No prior experience in film or media production is required.

The production team (Vanessa Brassey and Jenny Bell) will produce the films and support selected researchers step by step through the process of:

1. Concept development

2. Scripting and budgets

3. Filming

4. Editing

5. Output formatting

Selected participants will be required to take part in an online masterclass reflecting on the process later in the year. This class will be advertised separately and will be open to all researchers.

Distribution

Completed films will be available open access, hosted via the Centre for Philosophy and Art, and shared through YouTube and 糖心视频 channels. All films will include subtitles and full transcripts for accessibility. 

Theme

The theme of the Open Call is 鈥淎 New Philosophical Perspective on Art鈥�, where 鈥榓rt鈥� is understood broadly to encompass both visual and narrative media.

We are particularly interested in contributions that turn on a clean, focused philosophical move, for example:

鈥� a neat logical insight

鈥� a counterexample that unsettles a familiar assumption

鈥� the identification of a previously overlooked problem

鈥� a claim defended with elegant precision

鈥� a clarification that brings unexpected simplicity to a difficult idea

Topics for Submission

Submissions should address any of the following themes in an artistic context:

representation and depiction;

emotions and their expression;

space and time;

memory, dreams and related mental states;

perspectives and perspective taking.

Key Dates

Given the collaborative nature of the project, the selection process will take place in two stages, allowing room for the practical demands of filming and production.

The proposed schedule is:

鈥� Call for Papers: opens December 2025; deadline 15 January 2026

鈥� Notification of Shortlist: end January 2026, 

鈥� Online Meetings with shortlist candidates: early February 2026

鈥� Notification to participants: end February 2026, 

鈥� Scripting & Filming window: April鈥揗ay 2026

鈥� Edited films completed: Summer 2026

鈥� Masterclass online workshop session: Autumn 2026

How to Submit

We invite proposals rather than full papers. Submissions must include:

鈥� Title;

鈥� Abstract (approx. 200 words);

鈥� A concise statement of the argument (this can be one line each for premises and conclusion with a short introductory paragraph, (when submitted as a prose max 350 words);

鈥� A short contextual paragraph (max 150 words) outlining the debate you are engaging with, how your proposal sits within or departs from work in related disciplines, and any artworks essential to your discussion;

鈥� Eight keywords;

鈥� A brief researcher biography (maximum 100 words);

Please submit your proposal as a Word document or PDF to:vanessa.1.brassey[at]

Eligibility

The opportunity is open to PhD students, early-career researchers, and established academics. We aim to ensure that the workshop reflects the breadth of researchers working in the field, and we actively welcome submissions from groups underrepresented in philosophy, including those who are BAME, disabled, trans or non-binary, from low-income backgrounds, or first-generation university attendees.

Diversity considerations will inform decisions at each stage of selection and planning. Graduate and early-career researchers who require travel support are encouraged to apply to the 糖心视频 Travel Stipend scheme; where applicants have already used the annual allowance or are unsuccessful, limited support may be available through this project.

Enquiries: vanessa.1.brassey[at]

The Team

Vanessa Brassey (KCL)

Vanessa Brassey spent many years in corporate and commercial branding and creative production. She completed her PhD at King鈥檚 College London in 2020, became a Lecturer in the department, was the 糖心视频 Fellow in 2022鈥�23, and has been Director of the Centre for Philosophy and Arts since 2021. Her research focuses on emotional expression in art, with emphasis on imagination and emotional perspective. She is published in several peer-reviewed journals, and edited a collection for Routledge on The Expression of Emotion in the Visual Arts (2025). She has produced short-form philosophy films for The National Gallery, three one-hour specials on Time and Beauty, and an animated explanation of Richard Wollheim鈥檚 theory of expression. She will lead on production, administration, and participant support.

Sacha Golob (KCL)

An internationally recognised expert on post-Kantian philosophy and Co-Editor of the British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Sacha Golob has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles and is author of a monograph on Heidegger (CUP) and the forthcoming Cambridge Handbook of Continental Philosophy. He co-directs the Centre for Philosophy and Art and is collaborating with the Francis Bacon Estate on a phenomenological study of Bacon鈥檚 work.

Derek Matravers (Open University; Cambridge)

Professor of Philosophy at The Open University and Extraordinary Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, Derek Matravers鈥� books include Art and Emotion (OUP, 1998), Introducing Philosophy of Art (Routledge, 2013), Fiction and Narrative (OUP, 2014), and, with Helen Frowe, Stones and Lives: The Ethics of Protecting Heritage in War(OUP, 2024). He co-edits The British Journal of Aesthetics.

Jenny Bell (Envis Media)

Our preferred video-production partner, with extensive experience producing philosophy films as well as hundreds of commercial works. Director Jen Bell has over seventeen years鈥� experience in filming and editing, specialising in storytelling and visual clarity. Her work is known for its collaborative and highly personal approach.

Firm deadline for submissions: 15th聽June 2026
Please adhere to the deadline as we are on a strict production schedule.

Guest Editors:
Peg Brand Weiser (Indiana University, Emerita)
Sukhvinder Shahi (University of Arizona)
Ritwik Agrawal (University of Arizona)

Call for Papers:
This special issue invites work that treats art not as an object of 鈥渄isinterested鈥� contemplation but as a site of action, coalition, and world-making across borders. We seek contributions that show what transnational feminisms and the arts can do鈥攍inking artistic practice to pedagogy, advocacy, and solidarity, and developing intersectional analysis tracking gender, race, class, nation, ecology, and power. Building on Marsha Meskimmon鈥檚 call to couple theory and practice (2020), the issue aims to decolonize methods and canons by working with and through artists, critics, theorists, and philosophers across regions and traditions.

The guest editors invite philosophical papers discussing topics that include but are not limited to:

• How has feminist aesthetics described/reinscribed basic notions such as 鈥渁rt,鈥� 鈥渁rtist,鈥� 鈥渁rtwork,鈥� 鈥渁rtworld,鈥� 鈥減erception,鈥� 鈥渋nterpretation,鈥� 鈥渃reativity,鈥� and 鈥渁esthetic value鈥�?
• How has the study of art by other cultures and traditions鈥攅.g., Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Islamic, African, Subaltern, etc.鈥攂een realized within philosophical aesthetics?
• Does philosophical aesthetics admit of feminisms, much less transnational feminisms?
• How does adopting a disinterested stance preclude transnational feminist praxis and activism?
• Is there a feminist conception of the use of artificial intelligence, generative language models, and associated technologies in art making practices?
• Reflections on feminist perspectives on the 鈥渞ight to sex鈥� (Srinivasan 2022) and its relation to depictions of women on dating apps and platforms such as 鈥淥nly Fans鈥�.
• The analysis of Deepfakes, Sexbots, and Digital Companions that present complex issues that intersect with feminist concerns about objectification, consent, and the portrayal of women in society.
• Philosophical reflections on depiction of feminity and sexuality in popular media, including streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, and in cinema, with a special focus on the increasing prominence of women of colour.
• Feminist conceptual art that emerged as a response to the male-dominated sphere of conceptual art and the broader socio-political landscape that often marginalized or ignored women’s experiences and contributions.
• Reflections on Women and LGTBQ+ artists who have addressed issues of objectification, beauty standards, and bodily autonomy, often using their own bodies as mediums or subjects of their art to reclaim the narrative around the female form.
• The work of artists who have focused on the domestic sphere, highlighting the undervaluation of women’s labour in both artistic and domestic contexts. This includes the use of materials traditionally associated with women’s work, such as textiles, and techniques deemed as craft rather than high art.

Papers should conform to the usual  and be submitted for consideration through  by June 15th, 2026. All submissions will undergo blind review.

Enquires should be directed to bjafeministaesthetics@gmail.com

While Oxford University Press has given the Society the option of organising their own production and distribution for print copies, the cost for this would be significant, and the majority of our members only read the Journal digitally. Therefore, the Society has made the decision to move the Journal to online-only publishing and will no longer accept orders for printed copies after 30 December 2025.

This will not affect any current subscriptions. Members who have purchased print copies due to be shipped in 2026 (Volume 66, Issues 1-4) will receive their publications as normal. Anyone with membership due to expire before the end of the year will also be able to buy these copies until 30 December 2025 when renewing their membership.

New members can purchase the final printed issues of the Journal, to be shipped in 2026, until 30 December 2025 on this page of our website: /product/bsa-membership/

We understand some members may be disappointed by this news. However, the Society is committed to reducing our carbon footprint, and we hope our readers can appreciate the environmental benefits of this decision.

We鈥檇 like to take this opportunity to thank the readers of the British Journal of Aesthetics for their continued support; as well as the Editors, Paloma Atencia Linares and Derek Matravers, for their excellent work.

糖心视频

Wednesday 15th October 2025

4:10-5:30pm

John Percival Building, Room 2.03, Cardiff University

All Welcome!

Abstract

Might my love of Picasso make me a better partner? Can practicing aesthetic appreciation improve my capacity for loving attention in my relationships? The stalwart critics of moralism have long argued that artworks don鈥檛 have much of a moral impact on us, and avid consumers of art rarely turn out to be 鈥榖etter鈥� people. Why think art would make us better lovers? Drawing on Iris Murdoch鈥檚 work, this paper centres on one answer to this question: namely that aesthetic appreciation and loving attention have much in common. We should, in some ways, treat our loved ones as works of art. Just as aesthetic appreciation is guided by detail, so love鈥檚 work lies in responding to the particularities of a person.  

Recording

We aim to record the talk and make it available through our website for anyone who can鈥檛 make it. However, please bear with us while we are changing websites.

Dinner & Drinks

After the talk, we鈥檒l head for a drink, followed by dinner. 糖心视频 has generously agreed to cover dinner expenses for up to two students. Students who are interested in this opportunity are invited to contact the organiser (dixond7@cardiff.ac.uk).

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