Women Aestheticians and Philosophers of Art

There has been much discussion in the media recently about how philosophy tends to be a male-dominated field.   This is perhaps not as true in aesthetics (although I know of one classroom anthology that only has one female writer).

However, in my own career I have been very aware of a number of women who have made strong contributions to the field.  Here is a list of some of my female heroes in aesthetics, along with one of their publications. (I make not claim that the listed publication is the author's most important).  I will add to this list from time to time.  When I started this project I forgot that Christy Mag Uidhir had already done one on his blog here which is more extensive than mine.  It is organized towards producing more gender appropriate anthologies.  So let's just say this is my personal list.

Sally Banes. Dancing Women: Female Bodies on Stage.  1998. 

Annette Barnes.  On Interpretation. 1988.

Christine Battersby. Gender and Genius: Towards a Feminist Aesthetics.   1989.

Emily Brady.  Aesthetics and the Natural Environment.  2003.

Peggy Brand.  "Disinterestedness and Political Art."  in Carolyn Korsmeyer  Aesthetics:  The Big Questions. 1998.

Amy Coplan.  co-editor.  Empathy:  Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives. 2014.  

Eva Dadlez. What's Hecuba to Him?: Fictional Events and Actual Emotions (Literature and Philosophy) 1997.  

Mary Devereaux.  “Feminist Aesthetics,” The Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics, Jerrold Levinson (ed.), 2003.

Ellen Dissanayake.  Homo Aestheticus:  Where Art Comes From and Why.  1995.  

Jane Duran.  Women, Literature and Philosophy. 2007.

Anne Eaton.  “Feminist Aesthetics and Criticism,” Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition, London: Macmillan. 2014

Marcia Mueldor Eaton.  Aesthetics and the Good Life.  1989.

Catherine Z. Elgin.   with Nelson Goodman.  Reconceptions in Philosophy:  and Other Arts and Sciences.  1988.

Susan Feagin.  Reading with Feeling:  The Aesthetics of Appreciation.  1996.

Jane Forsey.  The Aesthetics of Design.  2013.

Cynthia Freeland.  But is it art?  2002.

Lydia Goehr.  The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works.  2007.

Heide Gottner-Abendroth.  The Dancing Goddess:  Principles of Matriarchal Aesthetic. 1982  tr. 1991.

Karen Hanson.  "Dressing Down Dressing Up."  1990.

Jean Gabbert Harrell. Profundity:  A Universal Value.  1995. 

Hilde Hein.  Public Art:  Thinking Museums Differently. 2006. Hilde was an early mentor of mine.  We co-edited the newsletter for the American Society for Aesthetics for many years. 

Kathleen Higgins.  The Music of Our Lives.  1991.

Sherri Irvin. "Scratching and Itch."  Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.  66: 1.  2008.   Body Aesthetics. 2016.

Jennifer Judkins.  “The Aesthetics of Silence in Live Musical Performance.” Journal of Aesthetic Education 31 (3):39.

Deborah Knight.  "Aesthetics and Cultural Studies."  2003.

Carolyn Korsmeyer.  Gender and Aesthetics:  An Introduction. 2004.

Suzanne Langer.  Feeling and Form.  1977.

Vernon Lee.  The Beautiful:  An Introduction to Psychological Aesthetics.  1913. 

Sheila Lintott.   "Toward Eco-Friendly Aesthetics."  2006.

Sandra Rudnick Luft.  Vico's Uncanny Humanism.  2003.  Luft was my adviser for my M.A. in Humanities from SFSU.  

Eva Kit Wah Man.  Bodies in China: Philosophy, Aesthetics, Gender, and Politics,  2016.

Katya Mandoki.  Everyday Aesthetics.  2007.

Sally Markowitz.  "Guilty pleasures:  aesthetic meta-response and fiction."  Journal of Aesthetic and Art Criticism 50:4 (1992) 307-316.  

Mara Miller.  The Garden as an Art.  1993.

Mary Mothersill.  Beauty Restored.  1986.  

Iris Murdoch.  The Sovereignty of Good.   1991.

Linda Nochlin. “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” Women, Art, and Power and Other Essays. 1988.

Martha Nussbaum.  Love's Knowledge:  Essays on Philosophy and Literature.  1992.

Puffer, Ethel P.  The Psychology of Beauty.  1905.

Jenefer Robinson.  Deeper than Reason: Emotion and Its Role in Literature, Music, and Art.  2005. 

Monique Roelofs.  The Cultural Promise of the Aesthetic.  2014.  

Stephanie Ross.  What Gardens Mean.  2001.  

Cynthia Rostankowski.  "Motivating Aesthetics," Journal of Aesthetic Education, 2003.  Rostankowski has been my aesthetics colleague at San Jose State for many years.

Barbara Sandrisser.  "On Elegance in Japan."  in Aesthetics in Perspective ed. Kathleen Higgins.  1996.  

Yuriko Saito.  Everyday Aesthetics. 2007.  Aesthetics of the Familiar:  Everyday Life and World Making.  2017.

Barbara Savedoff.  Transforming Images: How Photography Complicates the Picture.  2000.

Elaine Scarry. On Beauty and Being Just. 2001.

Sonia Sedivy.  Beauty and the End of Art:  Wittgenstein, Plurality and Perception. 2016.

Anita Silvers. "The Story of Art Is The Test Of Time." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. Vol. 49, No. 3, Summer, 1991. Silvers wrote a number of great articles for this journal.  She was also my first aesthetics teacher and basically inspired me to pursue the field.

Ellen Handler Spitz.  Inside Picture Books.  1999.

Kathleen Stock. “Historical Definitions of Art.” In Stephen Davies & Ananta Charana Sukla (eds.), Art and Essence.  2003.

Mary Bittner Wiseman.  The Ecstasies of Roland Barthes. 1989.

Julie van Camp.   John Dewey's Notion of Qualitative Thought. 2014.  Van Camp is currently Secretary/Treasurer for the American Society for Aesthetics.

Rachel Zuckert.   Kant on Beauty and Biology: An Interpretation of the Critique of Judgment. 2007.