ART (Aesthetics Research Torino) Philosophical Seminar 

 

Arto Haapala

(University of Helsinki, Finland)

March, 1. h 6 pm

 

 

 

Online

https://unito.webex.com/unito/j.php?MTID=m2da6d534f7f202d2465112c1a3831eff 

The Lure of the Familiar: The Existential and Aesthetic Importance of Routines and Habits

In this talk, I connect the existential structures of humans with some aesthetic considerations. One of the bedrocks of human existence is stability. We want to, and in most circumstances, we can rely on the fact that the circumstances in which we live, are, by and large, the same as they have been before. We do not have to worry every morning that there would be irreplaceable changes in our immediate living environment. When there is such a danger, the very roots of our existence are threatened – as we have tragically learned in the spring of 2022 with the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Stability and, in its vein, reliability form the foundation of our routines and habits. Routines require time to be established, and even though they can sometimes be a burden, they are very much a part of what we as humans are. It is simply not possible for any human being to create oneself anew all the time. It is in our nature look for and create routines and habits that make our lives smoother and more fluent than without learned practices. Stability and reliability create safety and comfort which is characteristic of any homey environment. The feeling of “being at home” has features which can be regarded as aesthetic. It is the atmospheric character of home as a whole that gives us comfort and satisfaction. This is the aesthetics of the homey and familiar. I do not deny that cracks and surprises in our everyday environment often have a positive aesthetic impact; we take aesthetic pleasure in experiencing something new. My aim is to point out the aesthetic relevance of the ordinary and familiar.

Arto Haapala received his Ph.D. in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London, and his M.A. in Aesthetics at the University of Helsinki. He has been Professor of Aesthetics at the University of Helsinki since 1995. He has been a visiting Professor at Temple University, Philadelphia, Lancaster University, UK, Universities of Murcia and Málaga, Spain, University of Palermo, Italy, and a visiting researcher at Universities of Freiburg and Bochum, Germany. He has done research in different problems in aesthetics, particularly in ontology and interpretation, as well as in environmental aesthetics, and Martin Heidegger’s philosophy. His most recent interests are in the aesthetics of everyday environments and urban aesthetics. His publications include What Is a Work of Literature? (1988), The End of Art and Beyond (ed. with Jerrold Levinson and Veikko Rantala, 1997), City as a Cultural Metaphor: Studies in Urban Aesthetics (ed. 1998); Interpretation and Its Boundaries (ed. with Ossi Naukkarinen, 1999), Aesthetic Experience and the Ethical Dimension: Essays on Moral Problems in Aesthetics (ed. with Oiva Kuisma, 2003), Paradokseja paratiiseissa: näkökulmia urbaanin luonnon kysymyksiin (Paradoxes in Paradises: Issues in Urban Nature, ed. with Mia Kunnaskari, 2008). Ympäristö, estetiikka ja hyvinvointi (Environment, Aesthetics, and Well-Being, ed. with Kalle Puolakka and Tarja Rannisto, 2015), and numerous articles on different problems in aesthetics. In 2010 he founded a journal entitled Aesthetic Pathways together with Gerald Cipriani, and the journal was relaunched in 2014 under the title Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology (Routledge:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rfap20).

 

ART (Aesthetics Research Torino) is a periodic philosophical seminar organized by the Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences of the University of Turin and the PhD Program FINO.

 

Coordinators:

Prof. Alessandro Bertinetto (University of Turin). 

Prof. Federico Vercellone (University of Turin). 

 

Members:

Prof. Carlo Serra (University of Turin/University of Calabria)

Prof.ssa Serena Feloj (University of Pavia)

Dr. Alberto Martinengo (University of Turin)

Dr. Paolo Furia (University of Turin)

Dr. Lisa Giombini (University Rome 3)

Dr. Gregorio Tenti (University of Turin)

Dr. Amalia Salvestrini (Laboratoire d'études sur les monothéismes, Paris)

Dr. Francesca Monateri (Pisa, Scuola Normale)

Dr. Francesca Perotto (FINO)

Dr. Ivan Quartesan (FINO)

Dr. Sofia Boz (University of Pauda)

Dr. Leonardo Pietropaolo (University of Turin)

Dr. Luisa Sampugnaro (University of Turin)

Dr. Nicola Davide Angerame (Turin)

 

ART addresses different topics of the contemporary debate in Aesthetics: philosophy of beauty, philosophy of the arts, theory of sensory experience, philosophy of image and imagination, and history of aesthetics.

 

ART is supported by:

Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca sulla Morfologia Francesco Moiso (CIM)
Centro Studi Arti della Modernità

Centro Studi Filosofico-religiosi "Luigi Pareyson"

 

ART is sponsored by: 

Italian Society for Aesthetics (SIE) 
European Society for Aesthetics (ESA)