Aaron Ridley

Professor Aaron Ridley holds a position in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Southampton. He specializes in Aesthetics, Philosophy of Music, and Nietzschean studies, with affiliations to the Southampton Centre for Nineteenth-Century Research and Southampton Ethics Centre. Ridley has taught at the University since 1994 after earning his BA from the University of York (1984) and PhD from the University of Cambridge (1991).

His research explores intersections between ethics and aesthetics, particularly through Nietzsche's works. Notable contributions include analyses of art's ethical dimensions and critiques of relational art theories. Ridley currently supervises two PhD students in Philosophy and accepts further applications.

Publications span articles in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Monist, and book-length works like The Deed is Everything. His 2025 article 'Nietzsche on art as the good will to appearance' exemplifies his focus on existential aesthetics. Research projects include the EU-funded 'Arts and ethics' initiative.

Labs/Teams: Active in interdisciplinary philosophical research groups at Southampton, contributing to both ethics and humanities-focused initiatives.