Alice Harberd

Papers

Aesthetic Bias in Epistemic Evaluation and the Value of Art. (2025) The British Journal of Aethetics. 65(2):283-304.

I argue that aesthetic properties can negatively bias our epistemic evaluations: they can make us think that communications which are actually significant or profound are banal or unimportant. Then, I argue that this observation has implications for our understanding of the value of art. Many people think their favourite artworks are valuable qua art partly because of the insights they convey – a version of a view called aesthetic cognitivism. One objection to this view highlights the difficulty of giving examples of insights learned from art - articulations of the supposed ‘insights’ often sound hopelessly banal. However, the potential for aesthetically-induced epistemic underestimations undermines this objection. The aesthetic properties which articulations of insights from artworks tend to bear are likely to give a false impression of banality. So, attempts to articulate insights from artworks aren’t reliable evidence of the epistemic value of those works.

UNDER REVIEW:

A paper on stereotypes and aesthetic perception (title redacted for review purposes)

A paper on Narrative (title redacted for review purposes)

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Closure and the Narrative Self 

I argue that a particular epistemological worry about narrative self-conceptions has been taken too seriously. This is the worry that pressure to realise closure in our self-narratives will lead us to misunderstand ourselves. Some apparent motivation for this worry stems from the aesthetic character of narrative – I argue that these considerations do not in fact support the worry. Rather, the aesthetic character of narrative provides routes for a narrative self-conception to help us resist pressure towards resolution.

The Aesthetics of Understanding Others

I argue that aesthetically appreciating the characters of others can help us understand them. First, I'll explore two epistemic obstacles we commonly face in our understanding of others: the complexity and changeability of others, and emotional and egoic obstacles. Second, I'll argue that it is typical of aesthetic value that it is what I call generative: it pulls us into deeper and longer contemplation of the object of our appreciation. I will then argue that we can have aesthetically generative experiences of appreciating others' characters, and that this generativity helps us overcome the epistemic obstacles. I will explain how my claims relate to the model of interpersonal inquiry advanced by Daniela Dover in her paper Love's Curiosity, extending and modifying her ideas to apply beyond the case of romantic love.

Singing

I have been lucky enough to perform and record with groups including the Taverner Consort, Instruments of Time and Truth, The Marian Consort, London Choral Sinfonia, St. Martin's Voices, Sansara and Eleutherios. I also sing with the choirs at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the Tower of London Chapel, and St Brides Church.

Alongside classical singing, I enjoy Javanese Gamelan - an Indonesian percussion orchestra. I am a very rusty pesindhen (female vocal soloist) and sometimes play with Siswa Sukra at the Indonesian Embassy in London.

Some music I like: this by renaissance composer John Sheppard, this by Poulenc, this Scottish folk song, this by The Smiths, this by Ariel Pink, this by Taylor Swift, this by Tchaikovsky, this by contemporary Scottish composer James MacMillan, this Javanese Gamelan piece, this American Songbook classic... I could go on!