Culture and Aesthetics
CultureLab (Laboratory of Culture and Aesthetics) develops research on the multiple ways in which philosophy relates to forms of cultural manifestation and to values, with particular attention to their theoretical, historical, and social contexts. A significant part of the laboratory’s activities is concentrated in the areas of aesthetics and the history of philosophy, seeking to understand their relation both to historically sedimented cultural aspects and to contemporary themes.
CultureLab’s research focuses on problems that, in their philosophical specificity, respond to the challenges posed by our time, including those emerging from art and literature. This perspective is framed by a rereading of fundamental authors and by a dialogical relation with the history of philosophy, with particular emphasis on ancient philosophy and Nietzsche studies.
The laboratory’s work also has a meta-philosophical dimension, aimed at understanding how the cultural aspects that inform philosophical reflection relate both to their own historical and conceptual construction and to the forms of life that may follow from such understanding.
CultureLab’s research is organised around three main methodological axes:
- The articulation between interpretative rigour, the rereading of fundamental authors and currents in the history of philosophy, and their relevance to contemporary issues.
- The reflective analysis of cultural manifestations and their imbrication with aesthetics, particularly in the fields of literature and the arts.
- A critical approach to the relation between philosophy and culture, taking into account the historicity of this relation, its connection with life, and the challenges of the present.
The laboratory’s work is reflected in the various funded projects developed in recent years, in its numerous publications and scientific activities, in the dissemination of knowledge both within and beyond the academic sphere, as well as in its interdisciplinary vocation and collaboration with other IFILNOVA laboratories.
CultureLab also hosts the Lisbon Nietzsche Group, dedicated to the study of Nietzsche’s work and thought and to the relevance of his legacy for our time, especially with regard to the problem of nihilism and the contemporary crisis of values.
