- Email: [email protected] - Website: [nickyoung.eu](https://nickyoung.eu) --- ## Areas of Research Philosophy of technology; aesthetics; philosophy of AI; philosophy of design; agentive phenomenology; philosophy of perception and attention. ## Current Position **Ricercatore a tempo determinato (RTD-A) in Aesthetics** (settore concorsuale 11/C4, SSD M-FIL/04) Dipartimento di Antichità, Filosofia e Storia (DAFIST), Università degli Studi di Genova March 2023 — February 2027 - Funded by Horizon Europe ERC Starting Grant 2021, Grant Agreement 101040535 — PEA: *Philosophy of Experiential Artifacts* (Principal Investigator: Enrico Terrone) - Original three-year contract (2023–2026) extended one year in February 2026 following positive evaluation - Research: aesthetics of AI, philosophy of design, philosophy of technology ## Previous Positions **Postdoctoral Researcher**, Centre for the Philosophy of Time, Università degli Studi di Milano January 2017 — February 2022. - "Time and Emotions" Project (PI: Giuliano Torrengo, with Clotilde Calabi). Funded by University of Milan, Assegno di Ricerca Tipo A (2+2 years). February 2018 — February 2022. - "TIME-METHODS" Project (PI: Giuliano Torrengo); work package of TEMP-FRAME. Funded by University of Milan, Transition Grant H2020 ("Unimi per ERC Starting e Consolidator"). January 2017 — January 2018. --- ## Education **PhD in Philosophy** — Universiteit Antwerpen, 2016 Dissertation: *Not Hearing Sounds*. Defended June 2016. Supervisor: Prof. Bence Nanay. **MA in Philosophy** — Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2010 (cum laude) Thesis: *Understanding Attention* (philosophical theories of perception and infant development). **BA in Philosophy** — University of Bristol, 2003 (Upper Second) --- ## Publications ### Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles - "Beauty in Use: Agentive Phenomenology and the Aesthetics of Design" (with Enrico Terrone). *Ergo*, forthcoming. - "Growing the Image: Generative AI and the Medium of Gardening" (with Enrico Terrone). *Philosophical Quarterly* (2025). DOI: [10.1093/pq/pqae120](https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqae120). - "Agents of Change: Temporal Flow and Feeling Oneself Act." *Philosophical Studies* 179(8): 2619–2637 (2022). - "Sounds as Properties." *Thought: A Journal of Philosophy* 10(2): 109–117 (2021). - "Hearing Objects and Events." *Philosophical Studies* 175(11): 2931–2950 (2018). - "Can Movement Be Depicted?" (with Clotilde Calabi). *Phenomenology and Mind* 14: 170–179 (2018). - "Hearing Spaces." *Australasian Journal of Philosophy* 95(2): 242–255 (2017). - "Pointing and Representing: Three Options" (with Angelica Kaufmann and Bence Nanay). *Humana.Mente* 6(24) (2013). ### Book Chapters - "Design" (with Enrico Terrone). In Maurizio Guerri (ed.), *Le parole della tecnica: Concetti, ideologie, prospettive*. Einaudi, 2025. - "Audition and Composite Sensory Individuals" (with Bence Nanay). In *Sensory Individuals: Unimodal and Multimodal Perspectives*. Oxford University Press, 2023. ### Forthcoming / In Press - "The Psychedelic Image" (with Enrico Terrone). In *Art, Aesthetics and Psychedelics*, edited by Hans Maes. Bloomsbury. - "Aesthetics and Engineering" (with Enrico Terrone). In *Accompanying Aesthetics: Philosophy of Art’s Role in Other Disciplines*, edited by Max Ryynänen and Zoltán Somhegyi. Bloomsbury Academic, forthcoming. ### In Preparation - "The Environmental Aesthetics of AI" (with Enrico Terrone). Elaboration of the *Growing the Image* framework. - "Generating Philosophy with Artificial Intelligence." Argues that large language models will produce genuine philosophical contributions in the near term. --- ## Teaching ### University of Genova (DAFIST), 2023 — present - **Philosophy of Technology** — Master's level, 6 CFU (40 contact hours), English, course code 108721, SSD M-FIL/02. Taught annually from 2022/2023 to 2025/2026; scheduled again for 2026/2027. - The course covers the nature of artefacts and technical objects, theories of function and use, design and functional beauty, technological mediation, and ethical questions about design and AI. Recent versions include material on large language models, AI creativity and assertion, and responsibility for AI outputs. - Readings include Parsons and Carlson on functional beauty, Preston on material culture, Houkes and Vermaas on use plans and artefact functions, Verbeek on technological mediation, Wolfram's “What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work?”, and Butlin and Viebahn on AI assertion. - Assessment: 3000-word essay plus oral examination - Oral examiner on philosophy of technology and aesthetics modules at DAFIST. ### Earlier University Teaching (pre-PhD), 2007 — 2012 - **Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Deventer** (2008–2012). Academic writing and presentation skills for MBA programmes. - **Erasmus University Rotterdam** (2007–2012). Academic writing and critical thinking for MA Neuroscience and MBA programmes. Five years of sustained postgraduate-level teaching at Dutch HE institutions, in applied academic skills to non-philosophy students. --- ## Conference Presentations and Invited Talks - **Generating Philosophy with AI**. The 2nd Lingnan–Genoa–Kobe–Mimir Value Theory Conference, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, 22–24 April 2026. - **The Environmental Aesthetics of Generative AI**. BSA Annual Conference, Oxford, British Society of Aesthetics, September 2025. - **The Environmental Aesthetics of Generative AI**. Ethics and Aesthetics of Artificial Images Conference, University of Venice, May 2025. - **Beauty in Use**. Philosophy, Design and Aesthetics seminar, University of Warsaw / SWPS University, April 2025. - **Generating Philosophy with Artificial Intelligence** (invited paper). Languages of Technology Discussion Group, University of Vienna, January 2025. - **Beauty in Use** (invited paper). Higher Seminar in Aesthetics, Uppsala University, February 2024. - **Minor Melodies and Sorrowful Speech** (invited paper). How the Senses Present the World Conference, University of Turin, June 2022. - **Audition: Image and Appearance** (invited paper). Experiences Seminar Series, University of Liege, May 2021. - **Touchy-Feely Emotions**. ESPP 2019, Athens, European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, September 2019. - **Depiction in Time: Hearing Pictures** (invited paper). LOGOS Research Seminar, University of Barcelona, May 2019. - **Touchy-Feely Emotions** (invited paper). Mind and Reason Seminar, University of York, February 2019. - **Against Hearing Sounds**. ESPP 2018, European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, September 2018. - **Hearing Events**. Joint Session 2016, Cardiff, Aristotelian Society / Mind Association, July 2016. - **Hearing Spaces**. MindGrad 14, University of Warwick, December 2014. --- ## Supervision and Advising - **Supervisor of MA Dissertation**, Alessio Cremona, *The Aesthetics of Striving Games*, University of Genova, 2025. - **Member of PhD Supervisory Committee**, Ans Mertons, *The (Dis)Appearance of Time (On Exhibiting Kairos)*, LUCA School of Arts and KU Leuven, 2021-2025. --- ## Service - Academic service includes regular journal refereeing and conference/event organisation across postdoctoral appointments, most recently through the ERC-funded PEA: Philosophy of Experiential Artifacts project at the University of Genova. Programme details: [pea.unige.it/events](https://pea.unige.it/events). - Journal refereeing includes British Journal of Aesthetics, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Erkenntnis, Ergo, European Journal of Philosophy, Inquiry, Mind & Language, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, and Synthese. --- ## Languages - English (native) - Italian (B2) - Dutch (formerly B2) ---