Alexandra King

Alexandra King is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Simon Fraser University (SFU), with prior tenure at SUNY Buffalo. She holds a Ph.D. from Brown University and a B.A. from the University of Chicago. Her research focuses on moral and aesthetic normativity, with a central critique of the 'ought implies can' principle in ethics and explorations of aesthetic judgment's foundational questions.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Philosophy, Brown University (2014)
• B.A. in Philosophy with Honors and Mathematics Minor, University of Chicago (2007)

Research Interests:

• Explores metaethical and meta-aesthetic parallels, emphasizing normativity's role in moral and aesthetic domains.
• Investigates aesthetic diversity, subtlety in art, and the intersection of high/low art forms.

Publications Overview: Recent work addresses aesthetic universalism, response-dependent theories, and meta-theoretical comparisons between ethics and aesthetics. Her 2019 monograph What We Ought and What We Can challenges core assumptions in moral philosophy.

Teaching and Engagement: Teaches courses on ethics, aesthetics, and philosophy of art. Runs the blog Aesthetics for Birds, bridging academic philosophy with public discourse. Collaborates on edited volumes such as Art and Philosophy (Oxford, forthcoming).