The editors at Debates in Aesthetics are pleased to announce the publication of the general issue Vol 17 No 1 and the winner of the 2021 Debates in Aesthetics Essay prize.
In this general issue there are three original articles that explore a multitude of topics including: the nature of architectural value; whether there can be authorless works of fiction; and the relation between light art and somaesthetic experience. There is also an interview with Rafe McGregor, where he discusses his recent book, Narrative Justice. This issue is now available on our website: http://debatesinaesthetics.org/debates-in-aesthetics-vol-17-no-1/
Harry Drummond’s essay ‘Architectural Value and the Artistic Value of Architecture’ is the winner of the 2021 Debates in Aesthetics Essay prize and is published in this latest issue. In the essay, Drummond seeks to demarcate architectural value from artistic value. He motivates the necessity of this project by showing that, within philosophical discussion of architecture as an artform, architectural value and artistic value are often referred to interchangeably with no explicit differentiation between them. Drummond argues against this implicit claim with the goal of showing that architectural value has an independent significance that extends beyond what is attributed to architecture by virtue of its classification as a subgenre of the arts. In doing so, Drummond presents an important advance in conceptual refinement in thinking about the arts.
Harry Drummond is currently an AHRC NWCDTP funded PhD student, cross-institutionally supervised by Dr. Vid Simoniti (University of Liverpool) and Dr. Cain Todd (Lancaster University). His research focuses on interpersonal aesthetics and the possibility of shared aesthetic experiences, with a focus on relational and participatory art.
The Debates in Aesthetics Prize (formerly the Postgraduate Journal of Aesthetics Prize) is awarded to the best paper by a postgraduate student or early career academic. The British Society of Aesthetics generously awards the winning essay £250. For this award all papers from our last two published issues were taken into consideration. The papers were judged by the current, and previous, editors of the journal. The next prize will be awarded to the best paper in our forthcoming special and general issues, more information about which will be shared soon.
Dr Claire Anscomb & Sarah Kiernan
Co-Editors, Debates in Aesthetics