Yuriko Saito

Yuriko Saito
斉藤 百合子
Born1953
Japan
Education
OccupationPhilosopher
InstitutionsRhode Island School of Design
ThesisThe Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature: Western and Japanese Perspectives and Their Ethical Implications (1983)
Doctoral advisorDonald W. Crawford
Main interests
Aesthetics
Websitehttps://www.yurikosaito.com/

Yuriko Saito (Japanese: 斉藤 百合子, born 1953) is a retired Japanese-American philosopher specializing in aesthetics, including wabi-sabi, the Japanese philosophy of appreciating transience and imperfection.[1] She is a professor emeritus of philosophy at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[2]

Education and career

Saito is originally from Sapporo, Japan,[3] where she was born in 1953.[4] She studied philosophy at International Christian University in Tokyo, earning a bachelor's degree there. Next, she completed her PhD in philosophy, with a minor in Japanese literature, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[2][5] Her 1983 doctoral dissertation, The Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature: Western and Japanese Perspectives and Their Ethical Implications, was supervised by Donald W. Crawford.[6]

Meanwhile, she began working for the Rhode Island School of Design as an assistant professor in 1981. She remained there for the rest of her career, becoming a full professor in 1995 and retiring as professor emeritus in 2018.[5]

Recognition

Saito's book Aesthetics of the Familiar: Everyday Life and Worldmaking was the 2018 winner of the Outstanding Monograph Prize of the American Society for Aesthetics.[7]

In 2020, Saito was the Richard Wollheim Lecturer at the British Society of Aesthetics Annual Conference.[8]

Selected publications

Books

  • Everyday Aesthetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Paperback, 2010.[9]
  • Aesthetics of the Familiar: Everyday Life and World-Making. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Paperback, 2019.[10]
  • Aesthetics of Care: Practice in Everyday Life. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022.[11]

Articles

  • "The Japanese Aesthetics of Imperfection and Insufficiency", The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 55, 1997, pp. 377–385, doi:10.2307/430925, JSTOR 430925
  • "Appreciating Nature on Its Own Terms", Environmental Ethics, Vol. 20, 1998, pp. 135–149, doi:10.5840/enviroethics199820228
  • "The Significance of Environmental Aesthetics", in: Valery Vino (ed.), Introduction to Philosophy: Aesthetic Theory and Practice. Montreal, Quebec: The Rebus Community, 2021, pp. 106–108.
  • "Living with Everyday Objects: Aesthetic and Ethical Practice", in: Eva Kit Wah Man; Jeffrey Petts (eds.), Comparative Everyday Aesthetics: East-West Studies in Contemporary Living. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023, pp. 9–20, doi:10.1515/9789048554508-001, JSTOR j.ctv37363s6

References

  1. ^ Livni, Ephrat (June 23, 2018). "The case against perfectionism—and for a disheveled elegant life". Quartz. Retrieved 2023-10-03. Livni, Ephrat (August 3, 2018). "The Japanese art principle that teaches how to work with failure". Quartz. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  2. ^ a b "Yuriko Saito, Professor Emeritus". History, Philosophy, and Social Sciences Faculty. Rhode Island School of Design. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  3. ^ She calls Sapporo "my hometown" on p. 162 of Aesthetics of the Familiar.
  4. ^ Birth year from German National Library catalog entry, retrieved 2023-09-26
  5. ^ a b Saito, Yuriko. "Curriculum vitae". Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  6. ^ Saito, Yuriko (1983). "The Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature: Western and Japanese Perspectives and Their Ethical Implications". University of Wisconsin–Madison.
  7. ^ "Outstanding Monograph Prize". American Society for Aesthetics. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  8. ^ "Yuriko Saito Named Richard Wollheim Lecturer for 2020". American Society for Aesthetics. September 6, 2019. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  9. ^ Reviews of Everyday Aesthetics:
  10. ^ Reviews of Aesthetics of the Familiar:
  11. ^ Review of Aesthetics of Care: