Rafe Mcgregor
Biographic Data
| ID | 3789187 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rafe Mcgregor |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rafe |
| FAMILY NAME | Mcgregor |
| SIGNATURE | MCGREGOR R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of York |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7341-8545 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 19 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Introduction to Special Issue
Literary Theory and Criminology
Literary Theory and Criminology demonstrates the significance of contemporary literary theory to the discipline of criminology, particularly to those criminologists who are primarily concerned with questions of power, inequality, and harm. Drawing on innovations in philosophical, narrative, cultural, and pulp criminology, it sets out a deconstructive framework as part of a critical criminological critique-praxis. This book comprises eight essays …
Introduction
The purpose of this introduction is to set out the scope and content of this special issue of the Journal of Aesthetic Education, which takes Aesthetic Education through Narrative Art as its subject. I begin by delineating the “aesthetic” itself and then identifying the denotation of “aesthetic education” with which the issue's authors are concerned. This is followed by a characterization of “narrative art” that belies my preference for represent…
Violence Is a Cleansing Force
Frantz Fanon is best known as the author of two monographs: Black Skin, White Masks (1952), a literary and psychological account of Black experience and anti-Black racism, and The Wretched of the Earth (1961), a political manifesto arguing for the need to respond to colonial oppression with revolutionary violence. His critics contend that the disciplinary division evinces a failure to successfully integrate the psychological with the political, w…
The Complex Art of Murder
This article demonstrates the literary value of hardboiled detective fiction. I consider two different arguments for literary value, one based on Martin Heidegger's philosophy of art and the other on the tradition of form-content inseparability in literary aesthetics and literary criticism. The former is reliant on the genre's combination of formal complexity with substantive superficiality and the latter on the combination of formal complexity w…
Reading Ideas in Victorian Literature
Patrick Fessenbecker is Assistant Professor in Cultures, Civilizations, and Ideas at Bilkent University in Ankara. Reading Ideas in Victorian Literature is his first monograph and constitutes a substantial development of the argument he introduced in ‘In Defense of Paraphrase’, the essay that won New Literary History’s Ralph W. Cohen Prize in 2013. The purpose of the book is twofold: to problematize the formalist approach that has achieved hegemo…
The Urban Zemiology of Carnival Row
This article makes the case for the zemiological value of Fredric Jameson’s (2019) model of fourfold allegory. Zemiological value is the value in reducing harm and it is realized by means of etiology, i.e., explaining the causes of harm. I make the case using a single, detailed example, but the argument is generalizable by virtue of the relationship between fourfold allegory and contemporary social life. I begin by delineating Jameson’s model of …
James Ellroy’s Critical Criminology
This article argues for the criminological value of James Ellroy’s fiction, using hisUnderworld USA Trilogy(the “Trilogy”) as a case study. I present theTrilogyas a critical criminological enterprise, understood in the sense of offering a convincing explanation of the cause(s) of social harm—specifically, those committed by various agencies of the American government from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Ellroy’sTrilogyprovides this explanation…
Introduction to the Narrative Justice Symposium
Narrative Justice presents an argument for a contemporary theory of aesthetic education, followed by examples of that theory in practice. I use aesthetic education in its strict philosophical sense, that is, as a thesis about the relationship between aesthetic or artistic value on the one hand and moral and political value on the other hand. The crux of the thesis is that there is some kind of causal relation between aesthetic experiences and mor…
Replies to Critics
I am both grateful and flattered that colleagues whom I hold in such high regard have taken the time to engage so closely and so thoughtfully with my work. I am particularly pleased that those colleagues have approached Narrative Justice from such distinct perspectives as the intellectual impulse behind its writing was to create a work that was genuinely interdisciplinary and whose insights, such as they are, could be applied to a range of issues…
Evidence-based policing
"Evidence-based policing: translating research into practice." Police Practice and Research, 21(2), pp. 204–205
Narrative Counter-Terror
The aim of this article is to explore and evaluate narrative analysis as a counter-terror strategy. Research has demonstrated that both the white supremacist and Muslim fundamentalist calls to global violence are instantiations of a single master narrative, victim, which commits the ingroup to the restoration of utopia by the expulsion or extermination of the outgroup. This study deconstructs texts from American Renaissance and Rumiyah to show th…
Cinematic Realism
The purpose of this paper is to defend a particular kind of cinematic realism, anti-illusionism, which is the thesis that cinematic motion is real. Following a brief introduction to realism and cinema in Section 1, I analyse Berys Gaut’s taxonomy of cinematic realism and define anti-illusionism in Section 2. Section 3 contrasts the anti-illusionist theories of Gregory Currie and Trevor Ponech with the illusionist theories of Andrew Kania and Gaut…
Race, Riots, and the Police
Howard Rahtz joined the Cincinnati Police Department in 1988, after a career in alcohol and drug rehabilitation, and served for 19 years, retiring with the rank of captain. He has published four bo
Value of Literature
Film Worlds
Journal Article Film Worlds: A Philosophical Aesthetics of Cinema Get access Film Worlds: A Philosophical Aesthetics of Cinema Daniel Yacavone columbia university press . 2015 . pp. 311. £20.50 (pbk). Rafe McGregor Rafe McGregor University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Aesthetics, Volume 56, Issue 1, January 2016, Pages 106–109, https://doi.org/10.1093/aesthj/ayv010 Publish…
Literary Thickness
In this paper, I shall demonstrate the value of the concept of literary thickness – i.e. form-content inseparability – as a tool of literary appreciation. I set out the relationships between non-fiction, fiction, literature, and poetry in Section 1 and sketch a preliminary definition of literary thickness in Section 2. I argue that a convincing account of reference in literary fictions can be provided by means of literary thickness in Sections 3 …
Minerva's Night Out
Journal Article Minerva’s Night Out: Philosophy, Pop Culture, and Moving Pictures Get access Minerva’s Night Out: Philosophy, Pop Culture, and Moving Pictures Noël Carroll wiley-blackwell. 2013. pp. x + 358. £16.99 (pbk). Rafe McGregor Rafe McGregor University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Aesthetics, Volume 55, Issue 2, April 2015, Pages 252–255, https://doi.org/10.1093/ae…
Poetic Thickness
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that the experience of a poem qua poem is an experience of poetic thickness, i.e. an experience in which poetic form and poetic content are inseparable. I present a critical analysis of A. C. Bradley’s ‘Poetry for Poetry’s Sake’ lecture in Section 1, indicating both the strengths and weaknesses of his conception of resonant meaning. Section 2 draws on subsequent work by I. A. Richards and Peter Lamarq…
A Critique of the Value Interaction Debate
The purpose of this article is to show that the value interaction debate is deeply flawed and constitutes a superficial analysis of the relationship between morality and art. I introduce the debate, which concerns whether a moral defect in a work of art is (also) an aesthetic defect, in Section 1. Section 2 establishes the vagueness of two key terms in the discussion, moral defects and aesthetic defects. In Section 3, I introduce the naive assump…
Language, Truth, and Literature
In Language, Truth, and Literature, Richard Gaskin defends literary humanism on the basis that works of literature refer. His writing is a model of composition, concision, and clarity, and literary humanism is delineated on the first page of the preface: literary works have an objective meaning; aesthetic value and cognitive value are linked; and the aesthetic-cognitive value of a work of literature is in virtue of the work making true statements…
Better No Longer to Be
David Benatar argues that coming into existence is always a harm, and that – for all of us unfortunate enough to have come into existence – it would be better had we never come to be. We contend that if one accepts Benatar’s arguments for the asymmetry between the presence and absence of pleasure and pain, and the poor quality of life,2 one must also accept that suicide is preferable to continued existence, and that his view therefore implies bot…
A Critique of the Value Interaction Debate
The purpose of this article is to show that the value interaction debate is deeply flawed and constitutes a superficial analysis of the relationship between morality and art. I introduce the debate, which concerns whether a moral defect in a work of art is (also) an aesthetic defect, in Section 1. Section 2 establishes the vagueness of two key terms in the discussion, moral defects and aesthetic defects. In Section 3, I introduce the naive assump…
Poetic Thickness
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that the experience of a poem qua poem is an experience of poetic thickness, i.e. an experience in which poetic form and poetic content are inseparable. I present a critical analysis of A. C. Bradley’s ‘Poetry for Poetry’s Sake’ lecture in Section 1, indicating both the strengths and weaknesses of his conception of resonant meaning. Section 2 draws on subsequent work by I. A. Richards and Peter Lamarq…
Minerva's Night Out
Journal Article Minerva’s Night Out: Philosophy, Pop Culture, and Moving Pictures Get access Minerva’s Night Out: Philosophy, Pop Culture, and Moving Pictures Noël Carroll wiley-blackwell. 2013. pp. x + 358. £16.99 (pbk). Rafe McGregor Rafe McGregor University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Aesthetics, Volume 55, Issue 2, April 2015, Pages 252–255, https://doi.org/10.1093/ae…
Film Worlds
Journal Article Film Worlds: A Philosophical Aesthetics of Cinema Get access Film Worlds: A Philosophical Aesthetics of Cinema Daniel Yacavone columbia university press . 2015 . pp. 311. £20.50 (pbk). Rafe McGregor Rafe McGregor University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Aesthetics, Volume 56, Issue 1, January 2016, Pages 106–109, https://doi.org/10.1093/aesthj/ayv010 Publish…
Better No Longer to Be
David Benatar argues that coming into existence is always a harm, and that – for all of us unfortunate enough to have come into existence – it would be better had we never come to be. We contend that if one accepts Benatar’s arguments for the asymmetry between the presence and absence of pleasure and pain, and the poor quality of life,2 one must also accept that suicide is preferable to continued existence, and that his view therefore implies bot…
The Urban Zemiology of Carnival Row
This article makes the case for the zemiological value of Fredric Jameson’s (2019) model of fourfold allegory. Zemiological value is the value in reducing harm and it is realized by means of etiology, i.e., explaining the causes of harm. I make the case using a single, detailed example, but the argument is generalizable by virtue of the relationship between fourfold allegory and contemporary social life. I begin by delineating Jameson’s model of …
James Ellroy’s Critical Criminology
This article argues for the criminological value of James Ellroy’s fiction, using hisUnderworld USA Trilogy(the “Trilogy”) as a case study. I present theTrilogyas a critical criminological enterprise, understood in the sense of offering a convincing explanation of the cause(s) of social harm—specifically, those committed by various agencies of the American government from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Ellroy’sTrilogyprovides this explanation…
Narrative Counter-Terror
The aim of this article is to explore and evaluate narrative analysis as a counter-terror strategy. Research has demonstrated that both the white supremacist and Muslim fundamentalist calls to global violence are instantiations of a single master narrative, victim, which commits the ingroup to the restoration of utopia by the expulsion or extermination of the outgroup. This study deconstructs texts from American Renaissance and Rumiyah to show th…
Better No Longer to Be
David Benatar argues that coming into existence is always a harm, and that – for all of us unfortunate enough to have come into existence – it would be better had we never come to be. We contend that if one accepts Benatar’s arguments for the asymmetry between the presence and absence of pleasure and pain, and the poor quality of life,2 one must also accept that suicide is preferable to continued existence, and that his view therefore implies bot…
Language, Truth, and Literature
In Language, Truth, and Literature, Richard Gaskin defends literary humanism on the basis that works of literature refer. His writing is a model of composition, concision, and clarity, and literary humanism is delineated on the first page of the preface: literary works have an objective meaning; aesthetic value and cognitive value are linked; and the aesthetic-cognitive value of a work of literature is in virtue of the work making true statements…
Poetic Thickness
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that the experience of a poem qua poem is an experience of poetic thickness, i.e. an experience in which poetic form and poetic content are inseparable. I present a critical analysis of A. C. Bradley’s ‘Poetry for Poetry’s Sake’ lecture in Section 1, indicating both the strengths and weaknesses of his conception of resonant meaning. Section 2 draws on subsequent work by I. A. Richards and Peter Lamarq…
A Critique of the Value Interaction Debate
The purpose of this article is to show that the value interaction debate is deeply flawed and constitutes a superficial analysis of the relationship between morality and art. I introduce the debate, which concerns whether a moral defect in a work of art is (also) an aesthetic defect, in Section 1. Section 2 establishes the vagueness of two key terms in the discussion, moral defects and aesthetic defects. In Section 3, I introduce the naive assump…
Literary Thickness
In this paper, I shall demonstrate the value of the concept of literary thickness – i.e. form-content inseparability – as a tool of literary appreciation. I set out the relationships between non-fiction, fiction, literature, and poetry in Section 1 and sketch a preliminary definition of literary thickness in Section 2. I argue that a convincing account of reference in literary fictions can be provided by means of literary thickness in Sections 3 …
Minerva's Night Out
Journal Article Minerva’s Night Out: Philosophy, Pop Culture, and Moving Pictures Get access Minerva’s Night Out: Philosophy, Pop Culture, and Moving Pictures Noël Carroll wiley-blackwell. 2013. pp. x + 358. £16.99 (pbk). Rafe McGregor Rafe McGregor University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Aesthetics, Volume 55, Issue 2, April 2015, Pages 252–255, https://doi.org/10.1093/ae…
Value of Literature
Film Worlds
Journal Article Film Worlds: A Philosophical Aesthetics of Cinema Get access Film Worlds: A Philosophical Aesthetics of Cinema Daniel Yacavone columbia university press . 2015 . pp. 311. £20.50 (pbk). Rafe McGregor Rafe McGregor University of York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The British Journal of Aesthetics, Volume 56, Issue 1, January 2016, Pages 106–109, https://doi.org/10.1093/aesthj/ayv010 Publish…
Race, Riots, and the Police
Howard Rahtz joined the Cincinnati Police Department in 1988, after a career in alcohol and drug rehabilitation, and served for 19 years, retiring with the rank of captain. He has published four bo
Cinematic Realism
The purpose of this paper is to defend a particular kind of cinematic realism, anti-illusionism, which is the thesis that cinematic motion is real. Following a brief introduction to realism and cinema in Section 1, I analyse Berys Gaut’s taxonomy of cinematic realism and define anti-illusionism in Section 2. Section 3 contrasts the anti-illusionist theories of Gregory Currie and Trevor Ponech with the illusionist theories of Andrew Kania and Gaut…
Introduction to the Narrative Justice Symposium
Narrative Justice presents an argument for a contemporary theory of aesthetic education, followed by examples of that theory in practice. I use aesthetic education in its strict philosophical sense, that is, as a thesis about the relationship between aesthetic or artistic value on the one hand and moral and political value on the other hand. The crux of the thesis is that there is some kind of causal relation between aesthetic experiences and mor…
Replies to Critics
I am both grateful and flattered that colleagues whom I hold in such high regard have taken the time to engage so closely and so thoughtfully with my work. I am particularly pleased that those colleagues have approached Narrative Justice from such distinct perspectives as the intellectual impulse behind its writing was to create a work that was genuinely interdisciplinary and whose insights, such as they are, could be applied to a range of issues…
Evidence-based policing
"Evidence-based policing: translating research into practice." Police Practice and Research, 21(2), pp. 204–205
Narrative Counter-Terror
The aim of this article is to explore and evaluate narrative analysis as a counter-terror strategy. Research has demonstrated that both the white supremacist and Muslim fundamentalist calls to global violence are instantiations of a single master narrative, victim, which commits the ingroup to the restoration of utopia by the expulsion or extermination of the outgroup. This study deconstructs texts from American Renaissance and Rumiyah to show th…
Reading Ideas in Victorian Literature
Patrick Fessenbecker is Assistant Professor in Cultures, Civilizations, and Ideas at Bilkent University in Ankara. Reading Ideas in Victorian Literature is his first monograph and constitutes a substantial development of the argument he introduced in ‘In Defense of Paraphrase’, the essay that won New Literary History’s Ralph W. Cohen Prize in 2013. The purpose of the book is twofold: to problematize the formalist approach that has achieved hegemo…
The Urban Zemiology of Carnival Row
This article makes the case for the zemiological value of Fredric Jameson’s (2019) model of fourfold allegory. Zemiological value is the value in reducing harm and it is realized by means of etiology, i.e., explaining the causes of harm. I make the case using a single, detailed example, but the argument is generalizable by virtue of the relationship between fourfold allegory and contemporary social life. I begin by delineating Jameson’s model of …
James Ellroy’s Critical Criminology
This article argues for the criminological value of James Ellroy’s fiction, using hisUnderworld USA Trilogy(the “Trilogy”) as a case study. I present theTrilogyas a critical criminological enterprise, understood in the sense of offering a convincing explanation of the cause(s) of social harm—specifically, those committed by various agencies of the American government from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Ellroy’sTrilogyprovides this explanation…
The Complex Art of Murder
This article demonstrates the literary value of hardboiled detective fiction. I consider two different arguments for literary value, one based on Martin Heidegger's philosophy of art and the other on the tradition of form-content inseparability in literary aesthetics and literary criticism. The former is reliant on the genre's combination of formal complexity with substantive superficiality and the latter on the combination of formal complexity w…
Literary Theory and Criminology
Literary Theory and Criminology demonstrates the significance of contemporary literary theory to the discipline of criminology, particularly to those criminologists who are primarily concerned with questions of power, inequality, and harm. Drawing on innovations in philosophical, narrative, cultural, and pulp criminology, it sets out a deconstructive framework as part of a critical criminological critique-praxis. This book comprises eight essays …
Introduction
The purpose of this introduction is to set out the scope and content of this special issue of the Journal of Aesthetic Education, which takes Aesthetic Education through Narrative Art as its subject. I begin by delineating the “aesthetic” itself and then identifying the denotation of “aesthetic education” with which the issue's authors are concerned. This is followed by a characterization of “narrative art” that belies my preference for represent…
Violence Is a Cleansing Force
Frantz Fanon is best known as the author of two monographs: Black Skin, White Masks (1952), a literary and psychological account of Black experience and anti-Black racism, and The Wretched of the Earth (1961), a political manifesto arguing for the need to respond to colonial oppression with revolutionary violence. His critics contend that the disciplinary division evinces a failure to successfully integrate the psychological with the political, w…
Introduction to Special Issue
Sociology (14 works) · Art (13 works) · Philosophy (13 works) · Literature (11 works) · Political science (9 works) · Aesthetics (8 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art (7 works) · Psychology (7 works)