On Immoral Artists

Wednesday, 18 January 2023, 16:00-18:00

Senate House, Room 243

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An artist’s immorality often affects how we appreciate and interpret their art. My talk will do two things. First, I’ll show that “virtue-based” approaches (Nannicelli 2020) and “empiricist” approaches (Gaut 2007) to the relevance of the artist’s immorality cannot accommodate less easy cases like Hitler’s landscapes – and that they should. Second, after amending the virtue-based account to accommodate these cases, I then show that this improved version still cannot deal with hard cases like Rolf Harris’s paintings – but that it shouldn’t.

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Following NHS guidance, all attendees are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated (including boosters) against Covid-19, unless medically exempt. Face coverings are still encouraged, especially in classrooms. Our group is diverse; please continue to be considerate of those who wear face coverings and those who don’t. Thank you.