Errol Boon, Research Area 3: "Future Perfect"
Associated Doctoral Research Project

Errol Boon explores questions at the intersection of aesthetics and theoretical philosophy, focusing on concepts such as truth, knowledge, representation and reality in the context of aesthetics and art. More specifically, he is interested in ways of thinking that do not rely on statements and propositional reasoning, but instead unfold through affective, intuitive or aesthetic forms of cognition.

His dissertation project examines the truth value of non-discursive modes of thought in the arts. Engaging with ancient Greek philosophy, he distinguishes between three distinct forms of truth – metaphysical truth (ἀλήθεια), epistemic correctness (ὀρθότης) and aesthetic truthfulness (πιθανότης) – and argues that each of these truth forms corresponds to a different metaphysical modality of being (necessity, reality and possibility, respectively). Through this framework, he seeks to articulate and critically analyse two key conceptions of non-discursive truth: one rooted in phenomenological hermeneutics (Heidegger, Gadamer), the other in critical dialectics (Hegel, Adorno).

    

Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Anne Eusterschulte (Freie Universität Berlin/EXC 2020), Prof. Dr. Susanna Lindberg (Leiden University), Dr. Johan de Jong (Leiden University)