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Aaron Meskin

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DEPARTMENT HEAD, PROFESSOR - Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art, Philosophical Psychology, Philosophy of Food

I moved to the University of Georgia to take on the role of Head of Philosophy in July 2019. Before that, I was Professor of Philosophical Aesthetics at the University of Leeds in Leeds, England. From 1999-2005 I taught at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

The primary focus of my research is in the fields of aesthetics and the philosophy of art. I have published extensively on a wide variety of topics in those areas, including aesthetic testimony, authorship, the definition of art, emotional responses to fiction, the epistemology of photography, style, and the philosophical questions raised by comics, dance, film, short stories, theater, and video games. Sometimes I use experimental methods. Outside of aesthetics, I have co-authored works on the metaphysics of information and the cognitive architecture of the imagination. In recent years I've been working on the philosophy of food.

I  am President of the Georgia Philosophical Society and serve on UGA's University Council. I am also a Faculty Fellow at the University's Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

 

Education:

Rutgers University, PhD, Philosophy, 2000

Brown University, AB, Philosophy, 1989

Research Areas:
Selected Publications:

Publications:

Selected journal articles

  • “Dual Character Art Concepts,” (with Shen-yi Liao and Joshua Knobe), Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 2020. doi.org/10.1111/papq.12301
  • “Delicious but Immoral? Ethical Information Influences Consumer Expectations and Experience of Food,” (with Beth Armstrong and Pam Blundell-Birtill), Frontiers in Psychology 10, 2019. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00843
  • ‘Aesthetics and Cognitive Science,’ (with Jon Robson, Anna Ichino, Kris Goffin and Annelies Monseré), WIREs Cognitive Science 9(1), 2018: doi: 10.1002/wcs.1445
  • ‘Aesthetic Adjectives: Experimental Semantics and Context-Sensitivity,’ (with Shen-yi Liao), Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 94(2), 2017: 371-398.
  • ‘Aesthetic Adjectives Lack Uniform Behavior,’ (with Shen-yi Liao and Louise McNally), Inquiry 59(6), 2016: pp. 618-631.
  • 'Taste and Acquaintance,' (with Jon Robson), The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 2015, 73(2): 127-139.
  • 'Comics, Prints, and Multiplicity' (with Roy Cook), The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 2015, 73(1): 57-67.
  • 'Mere Exposure to Bad Art,' (with Mark Phelan, Margaret Moore and Matthew Kieran), British Journal of Aesthetics 2013, 53(2): 1-25.
  • 'Defining Comics?' Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 65, 2007: pp. 369-379. [A shortened version appears in Aesthetics: A Reader in Philosophy of the Arts, ed. David Goldblatt and Lee   Brown, third edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2011.]
  • 'An Objective Counterfactual Theory of Information,' (with Jonathan Cohen), Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 84 (3), 2006: pp. 333-352.
  • 'Aesthetic Testimony: What Can We Learn From Others About Beauty and Art?' Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 69 (1), 2004: pp. 65-91.
  • 'On the Epistemic Value of Photographs,' (with Jonathan Cohen), The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 62 (2), 2004: pp. 197-210.

Edited Volumes

  • Opposite: Poems, Philosophy and Coffee (co-edited with an introduction by Helen Mort and Aaron Meskin). Valley Press, 2019.
  • Once Upon a Time (by Peter Kivy, edited with an introduction by Aaron Meskin). Rowman and Littlefield, 2019.
  • The Routledge Companion to Comics (co-edited with an introduction by Frank Bramlett, Roy T Cook and Aaron Meskin). Routledge, 2016.
  • Aesthetics and The Sciences of Mind (co-edited with an introduction by Gregory Currie, Matthew Kieran, Aaron Meskin and Jon Robson). Oxford University Press, 2014.
  • Philosophical Aesthetics and the Sciences of Art (co-edited with an introduction by Gregory Currie, Matthew Kieran, Aaron Meskin and Margaret Moore). Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • The Art of Comics: A Philosophical Approach (co-edited with Roy T Cook). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
Courses Regularly Taught:
Of note:

President, Georgia Philosophical Society

Organizing Committee, Southern Division of the American Society for Aesthetics

Editorial Board, British Journal of Aesthetics

Editorial Board, Debates in Aesthetics

Area Editor (Aesthetics), Ergo

Articles Featuring Aaron Meskin

Associate Professor Elizabeth Brient presented the keynote lecture, “The Infinite Sphere as Think Tank: Suspension (of the finite in the infinite/ of the infinite in the finite) as Meditative Praxis” at the…

Richard Winfield’s latest book, Rethinking the Arts After Hegel: From Architecture to Motion Pictures, will be published by Palgrave Macmillan this November.  

Three undergraduate philosophy students participated in this year’s annual CURO Symposium, held April 3-4 at the Classic Center in…

Professor Yuri Balashov gave a talk on "Harnessing the Power of Domain Adaptation" at the Annual Conference of the American Translators…

Professor Yuri Balashov continues his work on his project on human and machine translation.

Philosophy department head Aaron Meskin is the primary investigator on the grant project “From AI Ethics to AI Aesthetics: Artificial Intelligence and Aesthetic Harm,” which has been awarded a…

Distinguished Research Professor, Richard Winfield published his twenty-third single-authored book, In Defense of Reason after Hegel: Why…

The Department of Philosophy announces the approval of PHIL 2700, Philosophical Approaches to Multiculturalism, for enrollment in Spring 2021.

Yuri Balashov became increasingly involved in the activities of the American Translators Association

Edward Halper, Distinguished Research Professor and Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor published an opinion piece in the December 3, 2020 issue of the…

The Department of Philosophy is excited to announce a new minor in Law, Ethics, and Philosophy in partnership with the UGA School of Law.

The Department of Philosophy has launched the new course, Philosophy for Children (PHIL 3900S) for the Spring 2021 semester.

Yuri BalashovProfessor

UGA Department of Philosophy announces a Pre-Law Track for undergraduate philosophy majors interested in pursuing a career in law.

Noted cartoonist David Heatley (MY BRAIN IS HANGING UPSIDE DOWN, DEADPAN) will be joined in conversation with University of Georgia professors Aaron Meskin (Philosophy) and Christopher Pizzino (Creative Writing) on Thursday, November 21 at 7pm…

Events featuring Aaron Meskin
Peabody Hall, Room 220

Students are invited to enjoy coffee, iced tea, and cookies with the new Head of the Department of Philosophy, Aaron Meskin who has recently joined us after teaching philosophy for 14 years in England. This offers an opportunity to talk about what’s working well in the department and also to present ideas about…

online event, sign in info TBA

Head of Department Dr. Aaron Meskin and Undergraduate Coordinator Thanassis Samaras host an informal chat about  the prospects and rewards of majoring in philosophy. All are welcome to participate to discuss the many benefits of choosing philosophy as a major.

Peabody Hall, Room 115

The Philosophy Graduate Students Association's New Research Series presents a talk by UGA Department of Philosophy Head Aaron Meskin on "The Aesthetics of (Music) Radio" on Wednesday March 2, 2022 at 6:15pm in 115 Peabody Hall. 

UGA Athenaeum, 287 W Broad St

Interdisciplinary scholars from both UGA and the University of Auburn will be gathering on Saturday, March 5 at the UGA Athenaeum for a day-long series of workshops on aesthetics.

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Peabody Hall

The Department of Philosophy hosts the Spring 2022 Georgia Philosophical Society Conference on Friday and Saturday June 3 & 4 at Peabody Hall. Friday afternoon is the undergraduate…

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Peabody Hall

The Department of Philosophy hosts the Spring 2022 Georgia Philosophical Society Conference on Friday and Saturday June 3 & 4 at Peabody Hall. Friday afternoon is the undergraduate…

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115 Peabody Hall & 307 Baldwin Hall

The Department of Philosophy is excited to host a renowned chef and multiple interdisciplinary scholars for workshops on "Food, Philosophy and Art in the US and Mexico" on Thursday, September 15 and Friday September 16. Co-sponsored by the Office of Global Engagement, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute,…

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115 Peabody Hall & 307 Baldwin Hall

The Department of Philosophy is excited to host a renowned chef and multiple interdisciplinary scholars for workshops on "Food, Philosophy and Art in the US and Mexico" on Thursday, September 15 and Friday September 16. Co-sponsored by the Office of Global Engagement, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute,…

Fine Arts Building, Room 400

The Ethics Film Fest is a series of four film screenings taking place November 3-30  in conjunction with UGA's Ethics Awareness Week. All are invited to view films that raise ethical issues about Artificial Intelligence and technology. Select UGA faculty will introduce the films and facilitate a brief discussion afterwards. All screenings take place in room…

Ciné - 234 West Hancock Ave, Downtown Athens

This screening is part of UGA's inaugural Humanities Festival, a series of interdepartmental events taking place March 15-27.

The documentary Young Plato tells the story of Kevin McArevey, the headmaster of an all-boys primary school in Belfast…

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