The Aesthetics of Knowledge: Theoretical Underpinnings and Ethical Implications

Our research will build on the work of recent philosophers and scientists who have started to devote their attention to the interplay between aesthetic and epistemic values. In turn, such investigations have an older history in the debates on the epistemic value of art. However, our project will have a broader scope by investigating not only phenomena typically subject to detached or disinterested contemplation, but also by shifting the main focus to the reverse direction of the relationship between these considerations. Whereas most previous attention has centred on how epistemic considerations influence aesthetic considerations, our research foregrounds the question of how the aesthetic may in turn shape the epistemic.