Foreword

This issue of Aisthesis grew out of the international and inter-disciplinary conference «From the Aesthetic Mind to the Symbolic Mind. Perceptual Dynamics, Mimetic Practices, Human Theatricality» held at the University of Florence on 26-28 October 2017. By bringing together researchers from various academic disciplines (philosophy, archaeology, psychology, performing arts, anthropology) and with different backgrounds and expertise, the conference intended to cast new light on central notions such as «aesthetic mind», “mimetic practices», «theatricality», and to refresh the debate about their relevance and role in human experience and their mutual connections. What are the main features of an aesthetic mind and how does the human aesthetic capacity relate to the ability for symbolic thinking? What are the cognitive implications of an aesthetic attitude in humans, and how our sense of the self is modified, shaped, moulded by the ability to perceive aesthetically and aesthetically encounter the world? An aesthetic mind is, per se, an expressive or theatrical mind, i.e. a mind that expresses itself in gestures, practices, performative acts: what are the implications of the concept of «theatricality» for our understanding of the functioning of the human mind? This is only a small sample of the many questions and issues addressed by the conference participants; the most part of the papers presented at the Florence conference is now included in this issue of Aisthesis.