Axel Rudolphi

Biography

I am a PhD candidate in aesthetics at the Department of Philosophy and at the multidisciplinary research program Engaging Vulnerability, at Uppsala University. Prior to my doctoral studies, I completed an MA degree in Aesthetics (2020), a BA degree in Chinese (2017) and a BA degree in Aesthetics (2017), at Uppsala University.

My dissertation project focuses on the concept of vulnerability from a perspective of philosophical aesthetics. In the dissertation, I defend a new comprehensive account of vulnerability, by drawing, in part, on key notions from Kant’s aesthetics. On the basis of this account, the dissertation explores the wider role of vulnerability within the aesthetic domain, considering questions of what it means to ascribe vulnerability to objects of aesthetic value (especially artworks), and of the role of vulnerability in aesthetic agency.

I have been serving as board member of the Nordic Society for Aesthetics since 2022. At Uppsala University, I have taught courses in the philosophy of contemporary art, Kant’s aesthetics, and the history of philosophical aesthetics. I have also been engaged in projects of public outreach related to my research, including public film screenings followed by artist interviews.

I can be reached at: Axel.Rudolphi.3166@student.uu.se