Aaron Smuts
Academic Appointments
Temple University
2007-10 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
Education
University of Wisconsin, Madison (2002-2006)
2006 Ph.D., Department of PhilosophyPh.D. minor, Department of Communication, program in film.
Dissertation: Laughing at Art: Humor, Art, and Morality (Chair: Noël Carroll)
University of Texas at Austin
University of Houston, TX
1997 BA Philosophy, Summa cum Laude1997 BA History, Summa cum Laude
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Art, EthicsAreas of Competence
Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind, Continental PhilosophyPublications
Edited Books
2010, in progress. Readings in the Philosophy of Art, co-edited with Noël Carroll.
Journal Articles
2010, forthcoming. "Crying at the Movies: Normal? Yes. Rational? Maybe." Midwest Studies in Philosophy, vol. XXXIV.
2010, forthcoming. "Grounding Moralism: Moral Flaws and Aesthetic Properties." Journal of Aesthetic Education.
2009. forthcoming. "Film as Philosophy: In Defense of the Bold Thesis." Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.
2009. forthcoming. "The Ethics of Humor: Can Your Sense of Humor be Wrong?" Ethical Theory and Moral Practice.
2009. forthcoming. "What is Interactivity?" Journal of Aesthetic Education 43.4 (2009).
2009. "Do Moral Flaws Enhance Amusement?" American Philosophical Quarterly 46.2 (2009): 151-163.
2009. "Story Identity and Story Type." Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 67.1 (2009): 5-14.
Reprinted in: The Aesthetics, Poetics, and Philosophy of Narrative.
2009. "Art and Negative Affect." Philosophy Compass 4.1 (2009): 39-55.
2008. "Wings of Desire: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality." Film and Philosophy 13 (2008): 137-151.
2008. "The Desire-Frustration Theory of Suspense." Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 66.3 (Summer 2008): 281-91.
2007. "The Paradox of Painful Art." Journal of Aesthetic Education 41.3 (2007): 59-77.
2007. "The Joke is the Thing: 'In the Company of Men' and the Ethics of Humor." Film and Philosophy 11 (2007): 49-66.
2006. "V. F. Perkins' Functional Credibility and the Problem of Imaginative Resistance." Film and Philosophy 10 (2006): 85-99.
2005. "Are Video Games Art?" Contemporary Aesthetics 3 (2005).
2005. "Anesthetic Experience." Philosophy and Literature 29.1 (2005): 97-113.
2005. "Savage Love: Violence in Service of Romance in the Films of Dante Lam," Asian Cinema Journal 16.1 (2005): 286-305.
2004. "Helpless Spectators: Suspense in Videogames and Film." Text Technology 1 (2004): 13-34. (co-authored with Jonathan Frome).
2002. "Haunting the House from Within: Disbelief Mitigation and Spatial Experience", Film-Philosophy 6.7 (2002).
Book Chapters
2010, forthcoming. "Sad Songs." Narrative, Emotion, Insight. Eds. John Gibson and Noël Carroll.
2010, forthcoming. "Sex, Love, and Shivers: The Authenticity of Desire." The Philosophy of David Cronenberg (U Kentucky P).
2009. "Story Identity and Story Type." In: The Aesthetics, Poetics, and Philosophy of Narrative. Ed. Noël Carroll (Blackwell).
2008. "'The Little People': Power and the Worshipable", The Twilight Zone and Philosophy, eds. Lester Hunt and Noël Carroll (Blackwell, 2008).
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).
2000. "The Metaphorics of Hume's Gendered Skepticism" in Feminist Interpretations of David Hume, ed. Anne Jaap Jacobson. (Penn State UP, 2000).
Encyclopedia and Companion Entries
2010, forthcoming. "Popular Art." The Continuum Companion to Aesthetics.
2009. forthcoming. "Pleasure." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Michael Boylan.
2009. forthcoming. "The
Paradox of Suspense." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
2008. "Horror." Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Film, eds. Carl Plantinga and Paisley Livingston (Routledge, 2008).
2006. "Humor." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Steven Jay Schneider, (April).
Other Articles
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 (vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 1-3).
2003. "Multiple Inheritance: A Reply to Dilworth." Contemporary Aesthetics (vol. 1).
2003. "The Attitudinal Endorsement Theory of Joke Appreciation." Media / Culture (October).
2002. “The Principles of Association: Dario Argento’s Profondo Rosso (Deep Red, 1975).” Kinoeye (vol. 2, no. 11).
2002. “Sympathetic Spectators: Roman Polanski’s Le Locataire (The Tenant, 1976).” Kinoeye (vol. 2, no. 3).
Reviews
2009, forthcoming. "Review of Garry Hagberg, Art and Ethical Criticism." British Journal of Aesthetics.
2009, forthcoming. “Review of Thinking Through Cinema.” Film-Philosophy. (5,000 words)
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)
2003. “Review of Simon Critchley, On Humour.” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (vol. 61, no. 4, pp. 414-416).
Articles Under Review
"The Feels Good Theory of Pleasure" (I argue that the motivational theory of pleasure is wrong and that a more intuitive theory of pleasure is forthcoming: The various experiences that we call “pleasures” all feel good. 6,900 words.)"The Ghost is the Thing: Can Fiction Reveal Audience Belief?" (I argue that cultural differences in audience responses to some horror fictions might be best explained by what supernatural beliefs they hold. 6,800 words.)
“Immortality and Significance” (I argue that immortality would be motivationally devastating, since our decisions would carry little weight, our achievements would be hollow victories of mere diligence, and the prospect of eternal frustration would haunt our every effort. 8,000 words.)
"'Pickman's Model': Horror and the Objective Purport of Photographs" (I argue that the putative objective purport of photographs is not part of the best explanation of the power of a common horror film technique. 7,700 words.)
"Aristocrats and Inferno Bullets: Two Controversial Claims about Humor and Morality" (I argue that moral flaws sometimes decrease amusement, and that moral virtues sometimes enhance amusement. 8,000 words.)
Articles in Progress
"Less Good but not Bad: In Defense of Epicureanism about the Badness of Death" (complete draft)"The Power to Make Others Worship" (complete draft)
"Dreams of Cinema"
"In Defense of Mental Statism"
"The Consequences of Moralism: Moral and Aesthetic Realism"
"The Appeals of Horror"
"Are Aesthetic Judgments Normative?"
"Welfare and the Meaning of Life: How are they related?"
"Love and Time (Travel)"
"The Immunity Thesis: Death, Harm, and Experience"
Books in Progress
Film as Philosophy: Essays on the Philosophy in Film
Thinking about the End: A Philosophy of Death
Presentations at Conferences
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.
2003. "Some Problems with Comic Moralism." University of Wisconsin-Madison, Philosophy Colloquium, May.
Comments
2008. 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's book on film and emotion. American Philosophical Association, Pacific division meeting, American Society for Aesthetics section, April.
2007. Comments on a Grant Travinor's paper presenting a definition of video games. American Society for Aesthetics, Annual meeting, November.
Editorial / Service
Referee for: Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, British Journal of Aesthetics, MIT Press, SUNY Press, Indiana UP, and U Kentucky Press.
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
Temple University, Department of Philosophy
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)
Philosophy of Film (Fall 2008)
Mosaic I: Humanities Seminar (Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009)
Mosaic II: Humanities Seminar (Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010)
The Good Life: Well-being and Meaning (Spring 2009)
Philosophy of Love (Fall 2009)
Meta-Ethics (Spring 2010)
Mass Art (Spring 2010)
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Philosophy
Introduction to Philosophy (Teaching Assistant)
University of Texas at Austin, Department of Philosophy
Contemporary Moral Problems (Teaching Assistant)
References
Noël Carroll - 215.204.8292 | knollcarroll@gmail.com
Department of Philosophy
CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Susan Feagin - feagin@temple.edu
Department of Philosophy
Temple University, 728 Anderson Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19122
Ivan Soll - 608.263.0250 | aisoll@wisc.edu
Department of Philosophy
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 600 N. Park St., Madison, WI 53706
Lester Hunt - 608.263.5956 | lhhunt@facstaff.wisc.edu
Department of Philosophy
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 600 N. Park St., Madison, WI 53706
David Bordwell - bordwell@wisc.edu
Department of Communication Arts
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 4045 Vilas Hall, Madison, WI 53706