The main theoretical impact of this project is to propose a perceptual and aesthetic understanding of institutional corruption as a possibility of philosophical critique, not fully captured by any of the senses of ‘corruption’ offered by the moral, legal, and social examinations of institutional corruption in recent philosophical studies. This research aims to impact specific themes and debates in the intersection between, on the one hand, social ontology and aesthetics, and social ontology and philosophy of perception, on the other. Such themes include a reconsideration on how a perceptual and aesthetic experience of corruption is constituted and what grounds the distinction between a corrupt state/event and a non-corrupt state/event. The main practical impact of this research is to reflect collectively on the following topics: “aesthetic investigations of corruption,” “the aims of institutional aesthetics,” “perceiving material with institutional content,” and “corruption of characteristic elements of social institutions.” These collective reflections will take the form of conversations with four international scholars who have inquired extensively into these matters.
