Duration
23 Apr 2012 - 26 Apr 2012
Philosophers of art study philosophical questions relating both to the arts in general and to individual art-forms. More general questions addressed include the nature of art and of the artwork, the nature of artistic appreciation and interpretation, and the nature of artistic value. Questions posed by individual art-forms include the nature of pictorial representation (‘depiction’), of fiction, of musical expression, and of artistic performance (or depiction). Philosophy of art is usually taken to be part of the broader field of Aesthetics, which addresses, without specific reference to the arts, the nature of aesthetic properties and aesthetic experience.
Philosophers of art and aestheticians welcome dialogue with other scholars whose domain of study is the arts, such as art historians and those working in cognitive science on topics relating to aesthetic and artistic experience.
The inaugural Dubrovnik Conference on Philosophy of Art will be held at the Inter-University Centre in Dubrovnik from 23rd to 26th April 2012. It is the hope of the directors that this will become an annual event. While we intend, in subsequent years, to have specific themes, we welcome this year presentations ranging across the full range of issues in the philosophy of art and aesthetics.
The intention is to run the conference along similar lines to the Philosophy of Science conference that has been held in Dubrovnik for nearly 40 years. This means that we shall not be asking those wishing to attend for copies of their papers in advance (although a brief abstract or title, if possible, would be helpful). We’ll finalize the programme for the conference at the opening session, making adjustments where necessary to accommodate the schedules of those arriving late or departing early. There will be five hour-long sessions per day, with a lengthy lunch break (3 hours) to allow participants to continue their discussions at a restaurant or other place of hostelry in the Old Town, or to explore the city. We are unfortunately unable to pay any expenses for participants, but hope this will not prove too much of a discouragement. Participants should be able to obtain very reasonable accommodation at hotels frequented by other participants at IUC conferences – details can be provided to those interested. There will also be a small conference fee in order to cover our obligations to the IUC for the use of the conference centre.
If you are interested in participating in the conference – and, we very much hope, presenting a paper – or if you would like further information, please contact David Davies at david.davies@mcgill.ca . We would like if possible to hear from prospective participants by late March 2012 so that we can give some prior thought to structuring the programme, and to whether we’ll need to arrange for parallel sessions, etc.
For students:
Advanced students in any of these fields are very welcome: they may present a paper, benefit from informal discussion, or arrange with one of the organizers to write a report or an essay on the conference themes. Students may receive credit for their participation in the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System.