Aaron SmutsDepartment of Philosophy • Rhode Island College • 600 Mount Pleasant Ave. • Providence, RI 02908 asmuts@gmail.com • http://www.aaronsmuts.com Academic Appointments Rhode Island College 2010-present Assistant Professor, Department of PhilosophyTemple University 2007-10 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of PhilosophyEducation University of Wisconsin, Madison (2002-2006) 2006 Ph.D., Department of PhilosophyDissertation: Laughing at Art: Humor, Art, and Morality (Chair: Noël Carroll) University of Texas at Austin 1997-8 Ph.D. student, Department of Philosophy
University of Houston, TX 1997 BA Philosophy, Summa cum Laude1997 BA History, Summa cum Laude
Areas of Specialization Ethics (especially theoretical ethics: well-being, axiology, moral responsibility, meta-ethics)Philosophy of Art (especially philosophy of film, paradoxes of emotion, humor, moralism) Philosophy of Emotion Areas of Competence Applied Ethics (bioethics, environmental ethics, neuroethics)Philosophy of Agency Philosophy of Mind Social and Political Philosophy Publications
Journal Articles 2012, forthcoming. "The Good Cause Account of the Meaning of Life." Southern Journal of Philosophy. [download]2012, forthcoming. "The Ethics of Singing Along: The Case of 'Mind of a Lunatic'." Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. [download] 2012, forthcoming. "Less Good but not Bad: In Defense of Epicureanism about Death." Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. [download] 2012, forthcoming. "The Satirical and the Salacious: In Defense of Symmetric Comic Moralism." Journal of Aesthetic Education. [download] 2012. "It’s a Wonderful Life: Pottersville and the Meaning of Life.” Film and Philosophy 16: 15-33. [download] 2011. "Grounding Moralism: Moral Flaws and Aesthetic Properties." Journal of Aesthetic Education 45.4: 34-53. [download] 2011. "The Feels Good Theory of Pleasure." Philosophical Studies 155.2: 241-265. [download] 2011. "Immortality and Significance." Philosophy and Literature 35.4: 134-149. [download] 2010. "'Pickman's Model': Horror and the Objective Purport of Photographs." Revue Internationale de Philosophie 4: 487-509. [download] 2010. "The Ghost is the Thing: Can Fiction Reveal Audience Belief?" Midwest Studies in Philosophy XXXIV: 219-239. [download] 2010. "The Ethics of Humor: Can Your Sense of Humor be Wrong?" Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 13.3: 333-347. [download] 2009. "Film as Philosophy: In Defense of the Bold Thesis." Journal of
Aesthetics and Art Criticism 67.4: 409-420. [download] 2009. "Do Moral Flaws Enhance Amusement?" American Philosophical Quarterly 46.2: 151-163.[download] 2009. "Story Identity and Story Type." Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 67.1: 5-14. [download] [Reprinted in: The Aesthetics, Poetics, and Philosophy of Narrative.] 2008. "Wings of Desire: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality." Film and Philosophy 13: 137-151. [download] 2008. "The Desire-Frustration Theory of Suspense." Journal
of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 66.3: 281-91. [download] 2007. "The Paradox of Painful Art." Journal of Aesthetic Education 41.3: 59-77. [download] [Reprinted in: Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800.] 2007. "The Joke is the Thing: 'In the Company of Men' and
the Ethics of Humor." Film and Philosophy 11: 49-66. [download] 2006. "V. F.
Perkins' Functional Credibility and the Problem of Imaginative Resistance." Film
and Philosophy 10: 85-99. [download] 2005. "Are Video Games Art?" Contemporary
Aesthetics 3: 1-15. [download] 2005. "Anesthetic
Experience." Philosophy and Literature 29.1: 97-113. [download] [Reprinted in Dark Thoughts: Philosophic Reflections on Cinematic Horror.] Book Chapters 2011. "Rubber Ring: Why do We Listen to Sad Songs?" In: Narrative, Emotion, and Insight. Eds. John Gibson and Noël Carroll (Penn State UP). [download] 2009. "Story Identity and Story Type." In: The Aesthetics, Poetics, and Philosophy of Narrative. Ed. Noël Carroll (Blackwell). [Reprint] [download] 2008. "'The Little People': Power and the Worshipable." In: The Twilight Zone and Philosophy. Eds. Lester Hunt and Noël Carroll (Blackwell). [download] 2004. "Helpless Spectators: Suspense in Videogames and Film." In: Text Technology. (co-authored with Jonathan Frome). [download] 2003. "Haunting the House from Within: Disbelief Mitigation and Spatial Experience." In: Dark Thoughts: Philosophic Reflections on Cinematic Horror. Ed. Steven Jay Schneider and Daniel Shaw (Scarecrow Press). [Reprint] [download] 2000. "The Metaphorics of Hume's Gendered Skepticism." In: Feminist Interpretations of David Hume, ed. Anne Jaap Jacobson. (Penn State UP). [download]
Encyclopedia and Companion Entries 2012. "Popular Art." The Continuum Companion to Aesthetics. [download] 2009. "Art and Negative Affect." Philosophy Compass 4.1 (2009): 39-55. [download] 2009. "The
Paradox of Suspense." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [download] 2008. "Horror." Routledge
Companion to Philosophy and Film, eds. Carl Plantinga and Paisley Livingston. [download] 2006. "Humor."
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Steven Jay Schneider,
(April). [download] Reviews 2007. “Review of Robert Yanal, Hitchcock as Philosopher.” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (vol. 65, no. 3, pp. 339-341). 2003. “Film Theory Meets Video Games: Issues and Methodologies
in Screenplay, eds. King and
Krzywinska.” Film-Philosophy (vol. 7,
no. 54). (6,000 words) [download] 2003. “Review of Simon Critchley, On Humour.” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (vol. 61, no. 4, pp. 414-416). Other Articles (misc: small pieces, replies, and film papers not included in the PDF version of my CV) 2009. "The Deer Hunter" in 101 War Movies You Must See Before You Die, ed. Steven Jay Schneider. (NY: Barron's Educational Series). 2009. "Three Kings" in 101 War Movies You Must See Before You Die, ed. Steven Jay Schneider. (NY: Barron's Educational Series). 2009. "G' Men" in 101 Gangster Movies You Must See Before You Die, ed. Steven Jay Schneider. (NY: Barron's Educational Series). 2007. "Eric Rohmer" in 501 Directors, ed. Steven Jay Schneider. (NY: Barron's Educational Series). 2006. "Video Games and the Philosophy of Art." American Society for Aesthetics Newsletter 25.1: 1-3. 2005. "Savage Love: Violence in Service of Romance in the Films of Dante Lam." Asian Cinema Journal 16.1: 286-305. 2003. "Multiple Inheritance: A Reply to Dilworth." Contemporary Aesthetics 1: 1-10. 2003. "The Attitudinal Endorsement Theory of Joke Appreciation." Media / Culture (October): 1-12. 2002. "The Principles of Association: Dario Argento’s Profondo Rosso (Deep Red, 1975)." Kinoeye 2.11: 1-15. 2002. "Sympathetic Spectators: Roman Polanski’s Le Locataire (The Tenant, 1976)." Kinoeye 2.3: 1-15 "Love and Free Will" (under review, 10k words) [download] "How Not to Defend Response Moralism" (complete draft, 8k words) "In Defense of the No-Reasons View of Love" (under review, 10k words) [download]"To be or Never to Have Been: Anti-Natalism and a Life Worth Living" (under review, 8k words) [download] "A Life Worth Living" (complete draft, 10k words) [download] "Five Tests for What Makes a Life Worth Living" (
complete draft, 8k words ) "Pleasurably Regarding the Pain of Fictional Others" (complete draft, 10k words) "Painful Art and the Limits of Welfare" (commissioned for Suffering Art Gladly) "Distinguishing the Literary Arts" (commissioned for The Routledge Companion to Phil. of Literature) "Cognitive and Philosophical Approaches to Horror" (commissioned for The Blackwell Comp. to Horror) "On Caring" (in progress) "Against Welfarism" (in progress) "Justifying Emotion" (in progress) "Emotional Proportionality" (in progress) "Is it Better to Like Better Things?" (in progress) "The Recurring Dream Theory of Film" (in progress) "Moral Responsibility for Reactions to Fiction" (in progress) Books in Progress Welfare, Meaning, and Worth. [abstract and ToC] Presentations at Conferences 2012. "A Life Worth Living." Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress (RoME). UC Boulder, August. 2012. "Pleasurably Regarding the Pain of Fictional Others."
American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern division meeting, April. [handout] 2011. "In Defense of the No-Reasons View of Love." Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress (RoME). UC Boulder, August. 2011. "On Asking: 'Is it Better to Like Better Things?'" Aesthetics Anarchy III. Indiana University, Bloomington, May. [handout] 2011. "Cinematic" American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern division meeting, April. 2010. "Cinematic." American Philosophical Association, Eastern division meeting, SPSCVA session, December. 2010. "Sad Songs." American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern division meeting, April. 2009. "'Pickman's Model: Horror and the Objective Purport of Photographs." American Philosophical Association, Eastern division meeting, SPSCVA session, December. 2009. "'Pickman's Model: Horror and the Objective Purport of Photographs." American Society for Aesthetics, Annual meeting, October. 2009. " The Feels Good Theory of Pleasure." American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern division meeting, April.2009. “Pleasure, Pain and Art.” American Philosophical Association, Pacific division meeting, SPSCVA session, April. 2008. “The Feels Good Theory of Pleasure” Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress (RoME), August. 2008. “Film as Philosophy: In Defense of the Bold Thesis” American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern division meeting, April. 2007. “The Ghost is the Thing: Can Fiction Reveal Audience Belief?” American Philosophical Association, Eastern division meeting, SPSCVA session, December. 2007. “In Defense of Comic Moralism” American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern division meeting, April. 2007. “In Defense of Comic Moralism” American Society for Aesthetics, Pacific division meeting, March. 2006. "The Paradox of Suspense and the Problem of Diminishing Returns." American Society for Aesthetics, Annual meeting, October. 2005. "Are Video Games Art?" American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern division meeting, April. Comments2008. Comments on Jill Fellows and Josh Johnston, "Moderate Moralism and Morally Defective Perspectives" American Society for Aesthetics, Annual meeting, November. 2008. Comments on Peter Rinderle, "Why Immoral Works of Art Might Merit the Response Which They Prescribe" American Society for Aesthetics, Annual meeting, November. 2008. Comments on Carl Plantinga, Moving Viewers. American Philosophical Association, Pacific division meeting, American Society for Aesthetics section, April. 2007. Comments on a Grant Tavinor, "The Definition of Video Game." American Society for Aesthetics, Annual meeting, November. Other Presentations2012. "Pleasurably Regarding the Pain of Fictional Others." Marist College, September. 2012. "A Life Worth Living." University of St Andrews. (2/6/2012). 2011. "Pickman's Model: Horror and the Objective Purport of Photographs." Engaging Conversations. Rhode Island College. (5/18/11) [handout] 2011. "Is Death Bad for the One Who Dies?" University of Massachusetts Medical School. (4/27/10) [handout] 2009. Panel discussion on the work of Ryan Trecartin. Tyler School of Art, Temple University. (7/10/09) 2003. "Some Problems with Comic Moralism." University of Wisconsin-Madison, Philosophy Colloquium. (5/1/03) Workshops 2011. "Moral Evaluations of Involuntary Reactions." Experimental Philosophy of Free Will Boot Camp. Yale, August. Service Referee for: Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (x4), British Journal of Aesthetics, Philosophy Compass (x2), Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Film and Philosophy, Journal of Aesthetic Education, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, and Philosophical Studies. External reviewer for: MIT Press, SUNY Press, Broadview Press, Indiana UP, U Kentucky Press, and Oxford University Press (x2). Editorial: Aesthetics Area Editor, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (July 2006 – July 2008); Editorial assistant for Noël Carroll's Comedy Incarnate: Buster Keaton, Physical Humor and Bodily Coping (Blackwell, 2006); Editorial assistant for Noël Carroll's Living in an Artworld. Teaching: McNair Program Fellowship Mentor (Temple University, summer 2009) Teaching Rhode Island College, Department of Philosophy Free Will and Moral Responsibility (Fall 2010; Fall 2011) Political Philosophy (Fall 2010) Bioethics (Fall 2010; Fall 2011) Philosophy of Religion (Spring 2011; Spring 2012; Summer I 2012) Environmental Ethics (Spring 2011) The Good Life (Spring 2011; Fall 2012) Meta-Ethics (Fall 2011) Philosophy of Emotion (Spring 2012) Philosophy Internship (Spring 2012) Moral Responsibility (Fall 2012) Philosophy of Death (Fall 2012) Temple University, Department of Philosophy Moral Philosophy (Fall 2007) Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind (Fall 2007) Intellectual Heritage I [Great Books: ancient Greece to the Renaissance] (Fall 2007, Spring 2008) Intellectual Heritage II [Great Books: Renaissance to the present] (Spring 2008) Philosophy of Death (Spring 2008, Fall 2009 graduate independent study) Philosophy of Film (Fall 2008) Mosaic I: Humanities Seminar (Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010 honors) Mosaic II: Humanities Seminar (Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009) The Good Life: Well-being and Meaning (Spring 2009, Spring 2010 honors) Philosophy of Love (Fall 2009) Free Will and Moral Responsibility (Spring 2010) University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Philosophy Reason in Communication [sophomore critical thinking] (Teaching Assistant) Introduction to Philosophy (Teaching Assistant) University of Texas at Austin, Department of Philosophy Introduction to Philosophy (Teaching Assistant) Contemporary Moral Problems (Teaching Assistant) References Noël Carroll | knollcarroll@gmail.com Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Susan Feagin | feagin@temple.edu Research Professor Editor, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism Department of Philosophy Temple University, 728 Anderson Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19122 Paisley Livingston | pl@ln.edu.hk Chair Professor and Head of Department Department of Philosophy Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong Tom Hurka | tom.hurka@utoronto.ca Chancellor Henry N. R. Jackman Distinguished Professor of Philosophical Studies Department of Philosophy University of Toronto, 170 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 2M8 David Bordwell | bordwell@wisc.edu Jacques Ledoux Professor of Film Studies Department of Communication Arts University of Wisconsin-Madison, 4045 Vilas Hall, Madison, WI 53706 Teaching: Paul Crow | pcrowe@temple.eduAssociate Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies Department of Philosophy Temple University, 728 Anderson Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19122 |
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