Varieties of Atmospheres. Across Philosophy and History of Art

San Raffaele School of Philosophy 2025

September 30th - October 2nd, 2025

Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan

Faculty of Philosophy

Accepted papers will be published in a special issue of Phenomenology and Mind.

Confirmed Invited Speakers

1. Marta Benenti (University of Murcia)

2. Huub Dijstelbloem (University of Amsterdam)

3. Anna Donise (University of Naples Federico II)

4. Joel Krueger (University of Exeter)

5. Teresa Marques (University of Barcelona)

6. Gianfranco Pellegrino (Luiss University, Rome)

Guest Editors

Mariaenrica Giannuzzi (University of Turin)

Stefano Pinzan (Vita-Salute San Raffaele University)

What is an atmosphere? How do we perceive atmospheres? Do places have atmospheres? How about objects and events? Which relation exists between emotions and atmospheres? These are highly-debated and multifaceted questions that need to be investigated from different but interrelated perspectives. In this School we aim at exploring these issues from a variety of philosophical points of view and from the perspective of arts and history of art.

First, in Phenomenology (Section 1), we seek to explore how atmospheres are experienced and what are their structural features. We aim to investigate whether atmospheres should be conceived in analogy with moods and Stimmungen or, rather, with expressive properties, environmental affordances, and tertiary qualities. Such a phenomenological investigation will also focus on the kind of experiences responsible for atmosphere detection, as well as on the impact atmospheres can have on one’s personal life and identity. Moreover, in this perspective, atmospheres are to be investigated in relation to the issue of sociality and its role in favoring or hindering the constitution of peculiar atmospheres.

Second, in Philosophy of Perception (Section 2), we aim to address the question of the nature of the act by which atmospheres are apprehended and, in particular, to consider whether this apprehension can be characterised as perceptual instead of, for example, affective, cognitive, or sui generis. The thesis of the perceivability of atmospheres is related to the recent debate on the scope of perceivable properties: do we only perceive objects’ low-level properties, such as colour, shape, or loudness, or do we also perceive high-level properties? The hypothesis that atmospheres are high-level perceivable properties raises a number of questions about the role played in their apprehension not only by the external senses (the canonical five sensory modalities) but also by the internal senses (proprioception, interoception), the role of corporeality, and of dedicated attentional mechanisms such as the mobilisation of a holistic form of attention. Another question related to the perceivability of atmospheres is whether these experiences are subject to the doxastic and/or emotive influence in the form of cognitive penetration and/or emotive penetration.

Third, from the perspective of Ethics and Political Philosophy (Section 3 and 4), we wish to examine how social contexts shape social, inter- or trans-subjective, communal or collective atmospheres, particularly exploring the interplay between individual and shared emotions, political emotions such as fear, rage, trust and hope and more complex affects. This involves unravelling the complexities of mimetic mechanisms such as emulation, contagion, or vice-versa, repulsion, resistance, and overall (dis)-adaptation in the face of potential transformative action to create a more equitable and inclusive society. Furthermore, the externalization of emotions through atmospheres presents new challenges regarding their impact on moral behavior and, consequently, on the relationship the agent can (and should) develop with the emotional sphere, including the one shared with other agents.

Fourth, in Philosophy of Language (Section 5), we explore how language and communication shape and perpetuate shared atmospheres that affect our cognition in a variety of ways. Recent works in the social philosophy of language have especially focused on how our words can contribute to spreading prejudice and bigoted attitudes. This is not limited to hate speech, but includes all sorts of contributions that invite to take - or even impose - a prejudiced perspective.

Finally, in Philosophy and History of Art (Section 6), we would like to examine the role that contemporary art plays in envisioning, building, experiencing atmospheres, fostering models to show, interpret and deconstruct socio-cultural norms, while performing and reshaping perception of built as well as natural spaces. The notion of atmosphere has been a pivotal concern in artistic experimentation, evolving across movements and media from the Baroque’s illusionistic spaces to contemporary installation, multimedia, and digital art. We invite contributions that examine how artistic research has shaped and transformed our understanding of atmospheres, exploring their capacity to alter perception, mediate experience, and challenge cultural paradigms. We are particularly interested in interdisciplinary proposals, aimed at connecting the philosophical and art historical discourse, and related to contemporary case studies and experiences.

Enclosed are some prompts for contributions to the call for papers, differentiated by sections.

Section 1: Phenomenology

1) What are atmospheres?

2) How to conceive atmospheres in relation to the classic notions of moods and Stimmungen?

3) Can atmospheres be considered as a peculiar kind of expressive, or tertiary, qualities? What about the idea of atmospheres as affective affordances?

4) Are atmospheres experienced by perception or by another kind of intentional act?

5) How much is the atmosphere of a place or a situation dependent on the intersubjective dynamics between people inhabiting that place or living in that situation?

6) How do atmospheres impact on our lived bodies? How does the experience of specific atmospheres impact on our affective and personal life, as well as on the development of our personal identity?

Section 2 : Philosophy of Perception

1) What could be the strengths and weaknesses of a perceptual account of our apprehension of atmospheres?

2)  What kind of perceivable high-level properties could atmospheres be?

3)  Which epistemic model is best suited to account for the link between the apprehension of atmospheres and our affective life?

4)  Are our atmospheric experiences subject to cognitive and/or emotive penetration?

5)  What role does the lived body play in the apprehension of atmospheres?

Section 3: Ethics

1) Can we talk about a “moral” atmosphere? How does it form? How should the concept of moral responsibility be applied to it?

2) What is (or should be) the relationship between atmospheres and moral reasoning?

3) What is (or should be) the relationship between atmospheres and moral behavior?

4) What is the relationship between atmospheres and moral emotions?

5) Do atmospheres play a role in moral (dis)engagement?

Section 4: Political Philosophy

1) What is a ‘political’ atmosphere?

2) How does a political atmosphere affect political decisions and actions?

3) What is the relationship between emotions and politics?

4) To what extent does a political atmosphere affect the democratic decision-making processes?

5) How should politics deal with political atmospheres and the means through which they are created?

Section 5: Philosophy of Language

1) How does language reflect, convey, or spread atmospheres?

2) How do these atmospheres affect our cognition?

3) What is the relation between language and cognition when it comes to negative perspectives and atmospheres?

4) How do atmospheres impact communicative practices?

5) Can prejudiced perspectives and atmospheres be countered? If so, how?

Section 6: Philosophy and History of Art

1) How do different artistic media—painting, sculpture, installation, video, and digital art—generate and manipulate atmospheres?

2) In what ways have artists historically shaped atmospheres to challenge, reflect, or transform socio-cultural and political norms?

3) How do immersive environments, from programmed installations to virtual reality, alter perception and spatial experience?

4) What is the role of materiality, light, and space in the construction of artistic atmospheres?

5) How do contemporary digital and multimedia artists create hybrid spaces that blur the boundaries between physical and virtual environments?

6) How can art, and particularly contemporary art, use atmospheres to generate sites of exchange and relationality?

7) How can interdisciplinary approaches, drawing from philosophy, phenomenology, and art history, enhance our understanding of artistic atmospheres?

Submissions must be prepared for double-blind review. Manuscripts – in .doc format – should not contain any identifying information and they cannot exceed 4000 words (references included). Manuscripts must be written in English. Moreover, they must contain:

-        an abstract of no more than 150 words;
-        4/5 keywords;

-        an indication of the section to which the submission is intended.

For stylistic details, see:
https://www.rosenbergesellier.it/eng/journals/phenomenology-and-mind/editorial-norms

Submissions should be sent via the Phenomenology and Mind website by June 20th 2025.

Authors should register here and then log in to submit their papers. Please, make sure to submit your paper to the section “Varieties of Atmospheres. Across Philosophy and History of Art”. 

For further information, please contact Mariaenrica Giannuzzi (mariaenrica.giannuzzi@unito.it) and/or Stefano Pinzan (pinzanstefano@gmail.com)

The School is organized within the project “Atmospheres (ATMOS): What They Are and How They Are Grasped” (LI: Prof. Elisabetta Sacchi, code: P2022TY73E_004, CUP D53D23020850001) funded by the Next Generation EU program, M4C2 PRIN 2022 PNRR.

Important dates

Deadline for submissions: June 20th, 2025.
Notification of acceptance: August 24th, 2025.
San Raffaele School of Philosophy: September 30th– October 2nd, 2025.
Publication of the special issue (expected): June 2026.

Scientific Direction

Francesca De Vecchi, Francesca Forlè, Elisabetta Sacchi.

Scientific Committee

Claudia Bianchi, Bianca Cepollaro, Greta Favara, Mariaenrica Giannuzzi, Stefano Pinzan, Francesca Pola, Roberta Sala, Sarah Songhorian.