PhiloMagic · The Art of the Impossible: A Philosophical Study of Theatrical Magic

The Art of the Impossible: A Philosophical Study of Theatrical Magic

PhiloMagic is an interdisciplinary project in philosophical aesthetics in the analytic tradition. It focuses primarily on the art of theatrical magic, which the American Society for Aesthetics recognizes as a “neglected art.” To develop and defend a general aesthetics of the impossible with a focus on theatrical magic is the goal of my book, The Art of the Impossible. When complete, The Art of the Impossible will be the first book-length study of its subject; for, despite its enduring popularity, magic has been widely ignored by art critics, art historians, and philosophers. Nevertheless, longstanding critical inattention to magic is unfortunate in at least three ways. First, public interest in magic remains strong. Second, recent historical scholarship has highlighted the importance of magic as a cultural force in Europe and the U.S. from the late 18th century into the early 20th. But the third—and, for my purposes, most important—reason that critical inattention to magic is unfortunate is that it offers a unique and distinctively intellectual aesthetic experience. A main goal of my project is to develop and defend this claim, and so, to illuminate magic’s enduring popular appeal. The main goals of the project were grouped in four Work Packages (WPs) that were to be completed at the Centre for Philosophical Psychology (CPP) at the University of Antwerp. WP1 was to finish my book manuscript. WP2 was to write and submit for publication three scholarly articles. WP3 was to organize a series of four study-groups at the CPP, each of which was to culminate with a public lecture aimed at a general academic audience. The last lecture was to coincide with WP4: an international workshop on the philosophy and science of magic.

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