Abstract: A natural landscape can look serene, a shade of colour cheerful and a piece of music might sound heartrending. Why do we ascribe affective qualities to objects that can't entertain psychological states? The capacity that objects, and especially artworks, have to express affective states is a bizarre phenomenon that needs to be clarified in numerous respects. Philosophers are still struggling with the phenomenon of expressiveness being a matter of imagination, perception, or mnemonic association, and usually do not agree on the role that emotions and human bodily expressions play in it. Benenti questions the main theories that populate the aesthetics domain using the tools of philosophy of mind. This study deals with crucial debates concerning seeing-in, cognitive penetration, the relation between phenomenal character and representational content and between emotions and expressions. It aims at providing a viable account of the experience we have of expressive properties by casting light on its fundamentally perceptual nature. The outcome is an empirically informed and critical overview of a topic which has been rather neglected in the philosophy of mind. The book will be of interest to scholars of the philosophy of mind, aesthetics, the cognitive sciences, and psychology.
Book Symposium Schedule:
Chair: Kevin Timpe (Calvin College, MI)
2:00 – 2:15: Book Synopsis, Marta Benenti (San Raffaele University, Italy)
2:15 – 2:30: First Commentary, Becko Copnehaven (Washington University in St. Louis, MO) and Jay Odenbaugh (Lewis and Clark College, OR)
2:30 – 2:45: Second Commentary, María José Alcaraz León (Universidad de Murcia, Spain)
2:45 – 3:00: Third Commentary, Matteo Ravasio (Peking University, China)
3:00 – 3:15: Fourth Commentary, Yujia Song (Salisbury University, MD)
3:15 – 3:20: Short Break
3:20 – 4:00: Author’s Response, Marta Benenti (San Raffaele University, Italy)
04:00 – 5:00: Audience Questions for Author and Panel of Commentators
Note to Critics: Please note that the order of presenters may change depending on the comments that will be submitted, which should be emailed to all the participants (just so we’re all on the same page) by November 30, 2021 using the group email thread set-up by Cecilea. We also ask that you submit the final drafts of your comments to the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion, to be peer reviewed and published as a part of a book symposium in the 2022 summer or winter issue, no later than February 29, 2022. Your symposium paper should be approximately 3,000 words. Finally, please let Cecilea know if you will need a copy of Marta Benenti's book. She will be contacting the publisher to request review copies. Note to Author: We ask that you submit your response to your commentators to all the participants (just so we’re all on the same page) by December 31, 2022 using the group email thread set-up by Cecilea. We also ask that you submit the final drafts of your précis and response to the Journal of Philosophy of Emotion, to be peer reviewed and published as a part of a book symposium in the 2022 summer or winter issue, no later than February 29, 2022. Your symposium précis should be between 1,500-3,000 words, and we will leave it to you to determine the length of your response. Note to Presenters: You should make sure that you are a member of the SPE at the time of the conference and that you also register for the 2022 Eastern APA conference (which may be more cost effective if you are also a member).