About the ESA
Aims

The goal has been to establish the ESA as one of the main research and communication platforms for people interested in aesthetics, with a special focus on aesthetics in Europe.
More specifically, the aim is to promote philosophical and other academic research and teaching in aesthetics and the theory of art, and in particular to encourage exchange between those pursuing these activities in different parts of Europe, and in the diverse traditions that European aesthetics involves.
In particular, the ESA aims:
- To distribute information about the activities of national and regional societies for aesthetics in Europe;
- To organise regular international conferences and meetings for the discussion of topics in aesthetics;
- To publish, or help with the publication of, high quality research in aesthetics done by European researchers.
The ESA Essay Prize for PhD students and early career researchers was launched in 2017 in memory Fabian Dorsch, a co-founder and a first secretary of the European Society for Aesthetics. Its former winners include Irene Martínez Marín (2019), Mark Windsor (2018), and Servaas van der Berg (2017).
If you would like to get involved, please contact us or join the ESA.
You may also want to take a look at the statutes of the ESA.
History

The European Society for Aesthetics was founded in 2008 at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), where it has been based ever since.
The ESA executive committee has been elected five times by the members of the ESA during the ESA Assembly meetings: in 2009 in Fribourg (Presidency and Committee), in 2012 in Guimarães/Braga (Committee), in 2015 in Dublin (Presidency and Committee), in 2018 in Maribor (Committee), in 2022 in Tallinn (Presidency and Committee).
Name | Affiliation | ESA committee member | Offices |
Claire Anscomb | Liverpool, UK | 2022- | |
María José Alcaraz León | Murcia, Spain | 2022- | |
Jochen Schuff | Berlin, Germany | 2022- | Programme chair (2022 – ) |
Pauline von Bonsdorff | Jyväskylä, Finland | 2018- | President, (2022 – ) |
Iris Vidmar | Rijeka, Croatia | 2018- | Editor of the Proceedings (2018 – 2019), Secretary (2020 – ) |
Tereza Hadravová | Prague, Czechia | 2018- | Webmaster and the Newsletter (2020 – ) |
Elena Tavani | Naples, Italy | 2018- | |
Adam Andrzejewski | Warsaw, Poland | 2018- | Treasurer (2018 – ) |
Regina-Nino Mion | Tallinn, Estonia | 2018- | Conference chair (2020 – ) |
Vítor Moura | Guimarães, Portugal | 2018- | Editor of the Proceedings (2020 – ) |
Connell Vaughan | Dublin, Ireland | 2017- | Editor of the Proceedings (2017 – ) |
Daniel Martin Feige | Berlin, Germany | 2015 – 2022 | Programme chair (2018– 2022) |
Karen Simecek | Warwick, UK | 2015 – 2022 | Conference chair (2018 – 2019), Secretary (2018 – 2020) |
Alessandro Bertinetto | Udine, Italy | 2012 – 2018 | Editor of the Proceedings (2010), Programme chair (2012-2018) |
Matilde Carrasco Barranco | Murcia, Spain | 2012 – 2018 | Conference chair (2012 – 2018) |
Zsolt Bátori | Budapest, Hungary | 2012 – 2018 | |
Isabelle Rieusset-Lemarié | Paris, France | 2012 – 2018 | |
Kalle Puolakka | Helsinki, Finland | 2012 – 2018 | Secretary (2013 – 2018) |
Dan-Eugen Ratiu | Cluj, Romania | 2012 – 2018 | Editor of the Proceedings (2012 – 2017) |
John Zeimbekis | Grenoble, France; Patras, Greece | 2012 – 2018 | Editor of the Proceedings (2011), Treasurer (2012 – 2018) |
Josef Früchtl | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 2012 – 2017 | |
Jakub Stejskal | Prague, Czechia | 2009 – 2015 | Editor of the Proceedings (2011) |
Fabian Dorsch | Fribourg, Switzerland | 2009 – 2015 | Secretary (2009 – 2013), Editor of the Proceedings (2009 – 2016) |
Catrin Misselhorn | Tübingen, Germany | 2009 – 2015 | |
Francisca Pérez Carreño | Murcia, Spain | 2009 – 2012 | President (2015 – 2022) |
Robert Hopkins | Sheffield, UK | 2009 – 2015 | President (2009 – 2015) |
Arto Haapala | Helsinki, Finland | 2009 – 2012 | |
Simo Säätelä | Bergen, Norway | 2009 – 2012 | |
Cain Todd | Lancaster, UK | 2009 – 2012 | Editor of the Proceedings (2010) |
Executive Committee

The European Society for Aesthetics is run by a eleven-person strong executive committee which includes the president, the secretary and the treasurer of the ESA, as well as the organiser of the annual conferences, the programme chair of those meetings and the editors of the ESA proceedings. The offices of the ESA include also a webmaster, who however need not be a member of the committee.
For any inquiries, please contact the holder of the office pertaining closest to your question(s) or comment(s). If unsure, please contact the secretary of the ESA.
Pauline von Bonsdorff (Jyväskylä) — Email: pauline.v.bonsdorff[at]jyu.fi
Iris Vidmar (Rijeka) — Email: secretary[at]eurosa.org or ividmar[at]ffri.uniri.hr
Adam Andrzejewski (Warsaw) — Email: treasurer[at]eurosa.org
Regina-Nino Mion (Tallinn) — Email: conference[at]eurosa.org
PROGRAMME CHAIRS
Jochen Schuff (Berlin) — Email: conference[at]eurosa.org
Connell Vaughan (Dublin) — Email: proceedings[at]eurosa.org
Vitor Moura (Guimarães) — Email: proceedings[at]eurosa.org
Tereza Hadravová (Prague) — Email: tereza.hadravova@ff.cuni.cz
EVENTS MANAGER
María José Alcaraz León (Murcia) – Email: events[at]eurosa.org
Elena Tavani (Naples) — Email: etavani@unior.it
Claire Anscomb (Liverpool)
Journals and Societies

Academic Journals
- Aisthesis
- British Journal of Aesthetics
- Contemporary Aesthetics
- Estetica. Studi e Ricerche
- Estetika – The European Journal of Aesthetics
- Evental Aesthetics
- LAOCOONTE Revista de Estética y Teoría de las Artes
- Studi di Estetica
- Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism
- Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology
- Nordic Journal of Aesthetics
- Proceedings of the European Society for Aesthetics
- Zeitschrift für Ästhetik und Allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft
- Itinera: Rivista di filosofia e di teoria delle arti