PRR Project

Summary

Job description NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities (NOVA FCSH) seeks to expand its academic staff by appointing an Assistant Researcher in Aesthetics (Research Chair). The selected candidate will develop a research agenda as an active member of Instituto de Filosofia da Nova (IFILNOVA) and will contribute to the development of NOVA FCSH strategic line on Arts and Humanities. IFILNOVA’s main purpose is to develop research programs focused upon conceptual analysis of values and construction of values at the ethical, political, and aesthetic levels. The programs aim also to apply philosophical theories to social practices and problems. Given this overall strategic aim of investigating the nature of value and the role of values in human action, specifically of aesthetic values, it is crucial for IFILNOVA to ensure the hiring of a candidate with a solid scientific background in the field of Aesthetics. The candidate should therefore be able to have a comprehensive view of the field of aesthetics. This scientific background should include a familiarity with key authors in the history of aesthetics, such as Kant, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein or Walter Benjamin.  Additionally, the candidate should also be able to engage in fruitful dialogues with existing artistic practices. We thus intend to hire someone who can lead innovative lines of investigation, offering a comprehensive overview of aesthetic problems, both at the theoretical level and at the level of artistic practices. Scientific profile Candidates should present high level expertise in the history of modern Aesthetics from Kant to contemporaneity, as well as in the philosophical approach to artistic practices. The position requires a researcher with an understanding of Aesthetics as an area that, while studying the conditions of human sensory experience, the role of imagination and the nature and process of human creativity also intersects with cultural, social, historical and political practices and values. Preference will be given to a scientific profile that reveals i) solid knowledge of classic and contemporary authors, concepts and problems in the field of Aesthetics ii) theoretic ability to pursue philosophical discussion on art and specific artistic practices iii) theoretic engagement with contemporary philosophical concerns through reflection upon art, culture and values. Thus, we are looking for a candidate with an excellent curriculum devoted to the field of Aesthetics, who: (i) has a PhD in Philosophy, (ii) has a good and increasingly solid record of international publications in indexed journals, but (iii) who is also concerned with the dissemination of knowledge in Portuguese and to audiences outside academia; (iv) has played an active role in research projects, is or has been part of international projects in the research area described above, and therefore shows that is capable of forming fruitful collaborations with other researchers or institutions, and thus developing research projects in the future, attracting funding; (v) has a solid track record of teaching courses in his/her area of expertise at different levels, but also demonstrates the ability to teach in related fields; (vi) shows abilities for undertaking managerial or scientific coordination activities, as well as (vii) as engaging in scientific arbitration, evaluation committees and thesis supervision activities, abilities that can be attested by previous experience. Rationale The recruitment of an Assistant Researcher in Aesthetics is scientifically relevant for both the Research Unit IFILNOVA and NOVA FCSH. IFILNOVA’s main goal is to develop research focused on the philosophical investigation of values. It privileges fundamental research on the history of philosophy — both classical and contemporary — as a tool to address questions concerning the nature of value, the role of values in human existence and their collective constitution in the ethical, political and aesthetic fields. The position of Assistant Researcher in Aesthetics is, thus, perfectly aligned with the institute’s research commitments, and it will consolidate IFILNOVA’s long term investigation on the key contribution of Aesthetics to the reflection on values since Kant, with highly developed research in authors like Nietzsche, Wittgenstein or Walter Benjamin as well as solid philosophical investigation on artistic practices and genres, particularly on cinema, photography, sound, and, more generally, plastic and visual arts and literature.