Critical Communities and Aesthetic Practices

Francis Halsall is lecturer in the history and theory of modern/contemporary art at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. His research focuses on theories of art after modernism (and in particular the systems-theoretical approach such as that of Niklas Luhmann). He is the author of Systems of Art (Peter Lang, 2008) and co-editor (with Julia Jansen & Tony O’Connor) of Rediscovering Aesthetics, (Stanford University Press, 2008). Recent articles include: ‘One Sense is Never Enough’ Journal of Visual Art Practice (October, 2004); ‘Art History versus Aesthetics?’ in Elkins, J, (ed.) Art History Versus Aesthetics, (Routledge, 2005); and ‘Chaos, Fractals and the Pedagogical Challenge of Jackson Pollock’s ‘All-Over’ Paintings’, Journal of Aesthetic Education, (2008)Julia Jansen is lecturer in Philosophy at University College Cork, Ireland. Her current research explores the intersections of Kant’s Philosophy of Mind, Husserlian Phenomenology, Aesthetics, and Cognitive Science. Her recent publications include: "Husserl’s First Philosophy of Phantasy: A Transcendental Phenomenology of Imagination," in: Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences (2005); "Schnittstelle und Brennpunkt: Das ästhetische Erlebnis als Aufgabe für eine Kooperation von Phänomenologie und Neurowissenschaft," in: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven der Phänomenologie, ed. by D. Lohmar und D. Fonfara (Springer, 2006). Currently she is finishing a monograph on imagination and transcendental philosophy in Kant and Husserl. She is the co-editor (with Francis Halsall & Tony O’Connor) of Rediscovering Aesthetics (Stanford University Press, 2008).Sinéad Murphy lectures in Philosophy at the Newcastle University. Her background is in Aesthetics, Hermeneutics and literary theory, and her current research is into the extent to, and manner in, whichhermeneutic philosophy exemplifies a constructive mode of philosophical practice. She is a regular contributor at the conferences of, for example, the Irish Philosophical Society, the Society for European Philosophy and the International Association for Philosophy and Literature, and has published on Kant’s sublime and on feminist literary theory.

• Introduction, F. Halsall, J. Jansen, S. Murphy.- Part 1: Critical Communities and Aesthetic Subjects: Ethics, Politics, Action.- 1. Community without Identity: Transcendental Communication in an Age of Flawed Identities, J. Williams,- 2. Othering, R. Bernasconi,- 3. Derrida’s Specters: Futurity, Finitude, Forgetting, J. Hodge,- 4. The Political and Ethical Significance of Waiting in Heidegger’s Philosophy of Action, F. ó Murchadha,- 5. The Political Horizon of Merleau-Ponty’s Ontology, D. Davis,- Part 2: Hermeneutics and Aesthetic Practices: Art, Ritual, Interpretation.- 6. Violence and Splendor, A. Lingis.- 7. Refraction in Film and Philosophy: The Case of Godard, J. Mullarkey.- 8. Notes on Translating Hölderlin, D. Krell.- 9. Art, Edge, E.S. Casey.- 10. Merleau-Ponty on Cultural Schemas and Childhood Drawing, T. Welsh.- 11. Reflections on the Hermeneutics of Creative Acts, D. Burnham.- 12. Hermeneutics as a Critique of Art, N. Davey.- Part 3: Aesthetic Practice and Critical Community: Friendship.- 13. On Friendship, G. Allen.- 14. Kantian Friendship, G. Banham.- 15. Just Friends: The Ethics of (Postmodern) Relationships, H.Silverman.- 16. The Art of Friendship, W. Hamrick.