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The body has become a key interest in virtually all contemporary traditions of philosophical inquiry. By focusing on the embodied nature of our lives, philosophers have developed novel and more comprehensive ways of understanding the fundamental features – among other things – of human thought, action, and culture. Across those traditions, many have been pointing out that acknowledging the centrality of the body can prove instrumental in correcting well-known limitations of traditional models especially in Western philosophies.

In aesthetics, the body offers a rich field of philosophical investigations, cutting across disciplines and schools. At a fundamental level, the body is a locus where we find intuitively realized a unity between the aesthetic subject and object. Individuals appreciate their bodies, acting both as observers and observed. This in turn profoundly challenges the long-standing dualism of Western aesthetics, possibly building bridges with other philosophical traditions such as those from the East. Reflections on the body seem to come with a promise of a new theoretical unity, so crucial in our globalized world.

Philosophical discussions of the body also shake aesthetics in other ways that are no less interesting and potentially innovative. Recently, we have seen a growing number of works by aestheticians expanding the range of objects and practices beyond the study of nature and the arts. Thinking about the body brings to the disciplinary foreground a wide range of social and cultural phenomena historically neglected. This panel explores cutting-edge trends in body aesthetics; we aim at stimulating an interdisciplinary dialogue and approach which can bring together art historians, aestheticians, artists, and activists interested in exploring the body as a crucial source of everyday aesthetic as well as artistic enjoyment.