How can aesthetics connect with research in other disciplines and fuel them with philosophical ideas and insights?

This edited collection explores what kind of companion discipline aesthetics can be . and the benefits of collaboration for other disciplines: not only in the humanities, but also those likemeteorology, brain research, engineering, or computer science. The contributors investigate the contemporary role of aesthetics in relationship with other disciplines and areas of research in order to enrich understanding of both the nature and the benefit of such intersections. While researchers have explored inter-disciplinarity, cross-disciplinarity, and trans-disciplinarity, the role of distinct disciplines in such crossovers have not been yet profoundly studied.

The eleven chapters connect aesthetics with other disciplines and areas of research, and while some of these pairings may look unusual or even surprising in the beginning, they nevertheless strengthen the core claim of the book: aesthetics is not only an active, but also a very helpful companion discipline to describing, understanding, and developing our world.

Max Ryynänen is Principal Lecturer at Aalto University, Finland and Adjunct Professor at the University of Helsinki, University of Eastern Finland, and Jyväskylä University, Finland

Zoltán Somhegyi is an art historian and Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Szeged, Hungary. As a researcher, he is focusing on the aesthetics of ruination and decay as well as environmental aesthetics and landscapes. In addition, he is also interested in contemporary arts and art criticism. He served as Secretary General of the International Association for Aesthetics (2016-2022). Since 2023, he is Deputy Secretary General of the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPSH). His current research project, Art and Catastrophe – Challenging Aesthetics Around Environmental Destruction, is supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2024-2027). www.zoltansomhegyi.com