Ernst Mach Workshop XIV 2026: Aesthetic Attention

Dates: May 18, 2026 – May 19, 2026
Venue: Academic Conference Center, Husova 4a, Prague, Czech Republic

Organizer: Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague
Organizing Team: Tomas Koblizek, Juraj Hvorecky, Tomas Marvan

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PROGRAM

MONDAY, MAY 18TH

10:00–11:30
Keynote 1
Paloma Atencia Linares (UNED)
How Stories Hold Us: An Attentional Account of Immersion

Coffee break

11:45–12:30
Fredrik Stjernberg (Linköping)
Varieties of Aesthetic Attention

Lunch

14:00–14:45
Emily Kay Williamson (CEU)
Joint Aesthetic Attention

14:45–15:30
Alessandra Basti (Cologne)
Is Aesthetic Attention Compatible with Disinterest? A Phenomenological Reinterpretation

Coffee break

16:00–16:45
Stefano Carlini (SNS Pisa)
Towards a Testable Model of Aesthetic Attention in Mate Choice: The Case of Female Bowerbirds

16:45–17:30
Tomasz Szubart (Szczecin)
Aesthetic Attention in Music: A Teleofunctional Account of Listening Across Time

TUESDAY, MAY 19TH

10:30–12:00
keynote 2
Bence Nanay (Antwerp)
Aesthetic Curiosity

Lunch

13:30–14:15
Ignacio Garay (UNIR)
Two Regimes of Aesthetic Attention: Focused and Immersive Modes of Engagement (online)

14:15–15:00
Benjamin F. Van Buren, Hong B. Nguyen (NSSR)
Attentional Dynamics Drive Aesthetic Preferences for Scenes: Evidence from ‘Attentional Transplants’ (online)

Inquiries at emw@flu.cas.cz