Research

I specialize in analytic aesthetics and the philosophy of art. I regularly teach courses on different topics in these areas. My research explores the nature and rational structure of aesthetic valuing, particularly focusing on the different mental states involved in this activity and how they relate to or interfere with each other. I'm also interested in certain topics within the philosophy of emotions, moral psychology and practical rationality that can help us answer these questions. I also have an interest in the ethics and aesthetics of art collections/-ing.  

I am the recipient of an International Postdoc Grant from the Swedish Research Council (2024-2027). My project, titled "Aesthetic Rationality: Coherence and Respect" investigates whether two of our main aesthetic attitudes—namely, judging an object as aesthetically valuable and aesthetically liking it—are subject to coherence requirements. The project is based at Uppsala University (Sweden) and the University of Southampton (UK). My host at Southampton is Prof. Daniel Whiting. You can read more about the project here.

Below you can find a list of selected publications.

Dissertation

1. (2023). Aesthetic Valuing and the Self.  Uppsala University. Main supervisor: Elisabeth Schellekens. Examining Commitee: Michael Brady (Glasgow University), Daniela Dover (University of Oxford), Eileen John (University of Warwick). Faculty Examiner: Keren Gorodeisky (Auburn University).

Papers and Book Chapters

2. (forthcoming). Varieties of Aesthetic Autonomy. Philosophy Compass.

3. (2023). The Aesthetic Enkratic Principle. British Journal of Aesthetics, 63 (2):251–268. 

4.  (2022). Aesthetic Taste: Perceptual Discernment or Emotional Sensibility? In Perspectives on Taste. Edited by Jeremy Wyatt, Dan Zeman and Julia Zakkou.  Routledge. (Co-authored with Elisabeth Schellekens). Pre-print here.

5.  (2020). Non-Standard Emotions and Aesthetic Understanding, Estetika: The European Journal of Aesthetics, 2 (57):135–49. (Winner of the Fabian Dorsch Essay Prize).

6. (2019) Robinson and Self-Conscious Emotions: Appreciation beyond (fellow) feeling, Debates in Aesthetics, 14, 1: 74-94.

Book Reviews

7.  (2024). Educating Character through the Arts. Edited By Laura D’olimpio, Panos Paris, and Aidan P Thompson. Philosophical Quarterly, 74 (3): 1049-1052. 2024.

Popular Philosophy

8. (forthcoming). Appreciating Taylor’s Versions: An Aesthetic Love Story. In Polite, B. (Ed.). Taylor Swift and the Philosophy of Re-recording: The Art of Taylor's Versions. Bloomsbury.

In preparation

• A paper on aesthetic self-transformation (draft available upon request)

• A paper on the normativity of aesthetic coherence (handout available)