HLG Offsite Talk: A Philosopher's Guide to Ugliness

HLG Offsite Talk

Thursday 27 November 2025, 2.30pm

A philosophers guide to ugliness

From Plato’s ideal forms to Kant’s aesthetics of the sublime, philosophers have theorised beauty at length. In contrast ugliness remains a much neglected, yet also profoundly revealing, concept. This talk explores ugliness not merely as the absence of beauty, but as a rich and complex phenomenon that challenges our ethical and aesthetic assumptions. Drawing on contemporary thinkers and developments in art and design it examines how ugliness operates both as a judgement of moral failure and social exclusion but remains a potent and creative political weapon. The talk will also consider contemporary trends in ugliness from fashion to digital culture.

Lecturer: Dr. Connell Vaughan, School of Art and Design, TU Dublin

Location: City Hall, Dame Street, Dublin. Conference room in lower ground floor level.

Free, advance booking required via Eventbrite or come along on the day subject to availability.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane