Renowned aesthetician Dominic Mclver Lopes, who is also a professor of the University of British Columbia (UBC), visited the School of Journalism and Communication, MKU, and gave a keynote lecture on What is Aesthetic Injustice on the afternoon of December 11.
Lopes defined “aesthetic injustice” in the context of reality, expounded the connection and differences between aesthetic injustice and aesthetic weaponization, and deeply analyzed the relationship between aesthetic culture and social justice. He believes that aesthetic injustice harms people through the activity of aesthetic subjects, damages the diversity of aesthetic cultural values, and undermines the social self-discipline of aesthetic culture, especially bringing about cultural discrimination against relatively vulnerable areas.
Lopes discussed aesthetic injustice in cultural appropriation through examples in North America, Europe and Japan. Cultural appropriation, as an aesthetic weapon, gives rise to social injustice through various means, such as disrespect, infringement, distortion, as well as assimilation of a specific culture. Lopes emphasized the need to achieve aesthetic justice in cultural appropriation, as different cultures have their own values and insiders of specific cultures can make their own decisions. Diversified aesthetic values can be achieved, while different aesthetic cultures can achieve their own autonomy.
The lecture is hosted by Associate Professor Zhou Caishu
Lopes' lecture have given students more access to international perspectives, enhanced their aesthetic literacy, and inspired their active thinking. Students interacted with Professor Lopes on issues such as views about beauty and gender stereotypes in cultural media activities.
Dominic Mclver Lopes is currently a Professor of the Department of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia and fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He served as the President of the Council of the American Philosophical Society, the President of the Canadian Philosophical Association, the President of the American Society for Aesthetics, as well as an editorial board member for several journals such as Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, the European Journal of Aesthetics, and the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Professor Lopes is dedicated to researching topics such as aesthetics and image cognition, digital art and new forms of art, art theory and values, and has profound attainments in the fields of aesthetics, philosophy, and socio-political philosophy.
