Michael R. Spicher, Ph.D.

Articles, essays, and reviews.

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ACADEMIC ARTICLES

• “Aesthetic Taste Now: A Look Beyond Art and the History of Philosophy,” in The Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, 2020.
• “Hope Coming On: Reflecting Nihilism,” in The Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, 2019.
• “Aesthetic Taste,” in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017.
• “The Restoration of Paradise: Depicting the Sublime in Art,” in A Piercing Light: Beauty, Faith, and Human Transcendence, edited by James M. Jacobs, Apr. 2015.
• “The Distinct Basic Good of Aesthetic Experience and Its Political Import,” in American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, 2013.
• “Medieval Theories of Aesthetics,” in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010.
• “What Changes when Transformers Transform?” in Transformers and Philosophy, edited by John R. Shook and Liz Stillwaggon Swan, May 12, 2009.

ESSAYS

• “Integrity as an Aspect of Beauty,” in BeautyMatter, Oct. 23, 2022.
• “Proportion: The Oldest Condition of Beauty,” in BeautyMatter, Sept. 29, 2022.
• “On the Origins of Beauty Standards,” in BeautyMatter, August 7, 2022.
• “The Parallels Between Geoffrey Mac’s Collection and Lucio Fontana’s ArtWork,” in Madame Blue, July 20, 2022.
• “Universal Blues,” in Splice Today, June 28, 2022.
• “A Reflection on Public and Academic Writing,” in Splice Today, Mar. 24, 2022.
• “Attending to Beauty,” in Form Follows Feeling, monograph by Suchi Reddy, Mar. 15, 2022.
• “Know Your Enclothed Body,” in Splice Today, Jan. 27, 2022.
• “AI Can’t See Straight,” in Splice Today, Dec. 22, 2021.
• “Rankings to Guide our Experience,” in Splice Today, Jun. 3, 2021.
• “The Importance of Aesthetics for Affordable Housing,” in Splice Today, May 24, 2021.
• “Eminem and Kierkegaard,” in Splice Today, Apr. 26, 2021.
• “Incarcerated Artists: Forgotten by the System,” in Splice Today, Dec. 4, 2020.
• “Upon the Rising Stairs” in ArchitectureBoston magazine, Nov. 6, 2017.

EDITED VOLUMES

• Symposium on Aesthetic Taste, in The Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, Autumn 2020.
• Cybernetics Revisited, a volume of the Leonardo Electronic Almanac, published by The MIT Press, Jan. 15, 2018.
• Cloud and Molecular Aesthetics, a volume of the Leonardo Electronic Almanac, published by The MIT Press, May 15, 2017.

ART REVIEWS

• “Collective Individuals: A Review of Sand,” Aesthetics Research Lab, Mar. 27, 2019.
• “Discriminating Shadows: Philosophy and Art,” in Big, Red & Shiny, Dec 11, 2018.
• “Radiant Memories: Philosophy and Art,” in Big, Red & Shiny, Nov. 27, 2018.
• “Releasing Your Narrative: Philosophy and Art,” in Big, Red & Shiny, May 7, 2018.
• “Evoking Ascension through Mimesis: Philosophy and Art,” in Big, Red & Shiny, Mar. 6, 2018.

BOOK REVIEWS

• Review of Aesthetics: A Very Short Introduction by Bence Nanay, for The Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, Autumn 2020.
• Review of On Taste: Aesthetic Exchanges, edited by Jane Forsey and Lars Aagaard-Mogensen, for the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Aug 4, 2019.
• Review of The Intertwining of Aesthetics and Ethics by Jadranka Skorin-Kapov for The Review of Metaphysics, 2017.
• Review of The Sublime in Modern Philosophy: Aesthetics, Ethics, and Nature by Emily Brady for the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, 2014.
• Review of What Art is Like, In Constant Reference to the Alice Books by Miguel Tamen for the The Review of Metaphysics, 2013.