Dominic McIver Lopes

The philosopher Dominic McIver Lopes writes on the nature and significance of art and the aesthetic. He has traced the aesthetic and epistemic value of images to how they extend the powers of human perception. In pioneering research on interactive computer art, he reveals how technology supports new kinds of aesthetic action. Urging caution about approaches to the aesthetic that center on art, he is developing a theory of aesthetic values as guiding agents who are engaged in a huge range of aesthetic projects. The elements of his theory have the potential to yield novel insights into the origins of aesthetic practices and the foundations of aesthetic education.

Lopes holds a BA from McGill University and a DPhil from Oxford University, he currently teaches at the University of British Columbia, and he has been a fellow of the National Humanities Center and a Leverhulme Trust Visiting Research Professor at the University of Warwick. His awards include an American Society for Aesthetics Outstanding Monograph Prize and a Killam Research Prize.