Emily Lawson
PhD Candidate in Philosophy
Department of Philosophy
University of British Columbia
I'm a Vanier Scholar and Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the University of British Columbia. I primarily work on the philosophy of emotion and imagination at the intersection of philosophy of mind, aesthetics, and South Asian philosophy. My doctoral research draws on rasa (aesthetic emotion) theory in Classical Sanskrit and modern South Asian aesthetics and on the experience of death and dying. I also work on the philosophical psychology of daydreaming and other imaginative experiences. I am writing a book on death and imagination for Columbia University Press. Beyond philosophy, I am a publishing poet, and hold an MFA in poetry from the University of Virginia. As a Poe-Faulkner Fellow there, I taught poetry courses and served as Editor-in-Chief for the literary magazine Meridian.
Research
Current CV
Dissertation:
Title: “Life’s PainfulBeauty: Rasa and Deathbed
Committee: Evan Thompson (primary supervisor) Catherine Prueitt (co-supervisor)
and Dominic McIver Lopes (committee member)
Defense Date: February 15, 2026
Book:
Under Contract: Death: A Guide for Imaginers – Columbia University Press, No Limits series, ed. Costică Brădăţan.
Articles:
Abhinavagupta on Savoring Aesthetic Disgust
Forthcoming in Philosophers' Imprint
This paper examines an enduring puzzle about enjoying aesthetic disgust as it arises for Abhinavagupta (c. 975-1025 CE). Abhinavagupta claims that all aesthetic emotions (rasas), including the disgust (bībhatsa) rasa, are pleasurable for the sensitive appreciator. Yet he elsewhere characterizes disgust as incompatible with enjoyment of its object. Taken together, these are puzzling claims. I trace the puzzle through a number of Abhinavagupta’s works and those on which he commented in the Pratyabhijñā Śaiva tradition. Along the way, I consider three possible but philosophically unsatisfying answers, each of which provides important pieces of the solution. Putting these pieces together with the Pratyabhijñā defense of impurity’s value and phenomenological analysis of imagination, I reconstruct an Abhinavaguptan solution according to which reflexive appreciation of expanding the limits of human imagination can explain how it is possible to enjoy experiencing aesthetic disgust and why we have reason to seek out this difficult pleasure.
Deathbed Aesthetics: Ugliness and Courageous Love
Forthcoming in the British Journal of Aesthetics
Dying can be ugly. This fact is relevant to the growing subfield of everyday aesthetics, to the philosophy of death, and to all of us as mortal beings. Disgusting experiences in particular seem to impose a limit on the dying person’s aesthetic agency. If disgust is the fitting response to medical and body horror in everyday contexts, we might think that we can aesthetically respond to these properties only with rational disgust (cold comfort for the dying person seeking beauty in painful circumstances) or with deluded aesthetic enjoyment (false beauty). I develop a Bhattacharyyan solution to this dilemma, defending a third option. According to K. C. Bhattacharyya (KCB, 1875–1949), even acute disgust in everyday life can be rationally enjoyed as an aesthetic emotion in virtue of adopting an emotional perspective of ‘courageous love’ through a specific imaginative procedure. I argue that courageous love is a merited, positive aesthetic-emotional response to disgusting experiences on the deathbed.
Courageous Love: K. C. Bhattacharyya on the Puzzle of Painful Beauty
with Dominic McIver Lopes
Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 2024, 10 (4): 728-743.
K. C. Bhattacharyya proposed a distinctively modern theory of rasa, or aesthetic emotion, according to which aesthetic emotions are feelings that have other feelings as their intentional objects. This paper articulates how Bhattacharyya's theory offers a novel solution to the "paradox of sorrow": a puzzle about how it is both possible and rational to enjoy the kind of negative emotions that are inspired by tragic and sorrowful tales. Bhattacharyya's solution is distinct from the conversion and compensation views that dominate the existing literature, and it derives its significance from how it ties aesthetic experience to self-awareness.
Daydreaming as Spontaneous Immersive Imagination: A Phenomenological Analysis
with Evan Thompson.
Philosophy and the Mind Sciences 2024 5 (1): 1-34.
Research on the specific features of daydreaming compared with mind wandering and night-dreaming is a neglected topic in the philosophy of mind and the cognitive neuroscience of spontaneous thought. The extant research either conflates daydreaming with mind-wandering, treats daydreaming and mind-wandering as opposed, or characterizes daydreaming as any and all “imagined events.” These imprecise, dueling definitions pose an obstacle to future research in spontaneous thought. They also fail to illuminate the phenomenal core of daydreaming, namely, its dreamlike qualities. We argue that daydreaming is spontaneous immersive imagination in the waking state. Our investigation distinguishes daydreaming, conceptually and phenomenologically, from mind-wandering and night-dreaming. We also distinguish prototypical experiences of daydreaming from adjacent imaginative activity, including fleeting imagery and deliberate fantasy. We argue that precision about the phenomenal character of daydreaming can guide neurophenomenological investigations, including, for instance, assessing reports of so-called “maladaptive daydreaming.”
A Dynamic Approach to Compulsive Fantasy: Constraints and Creativity in "Maladaptive Daydreaming"
with Jennifer Burrell and Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva.
Behavioral Sciences 2025, 15(10):1333
Compulsive fantasy, often called “maladaptive daydreaming,” involves frequent engagement with immersive fantasies that can sometimes interfere with everyday life and cause distress. This paper expands on Christoff and colleagues’ Dynamic Framework of Thought (DFT) to offer a process-based analysis of compulsive fantasy as it relates to other mental phenomena such as daydreaming and creative thought. Drawing on existing literature and posts on online forums by self-identified maladaptive daydreamers, we also propose an account of how compulsive fantasy episodes may unfold in terms of the oscillating dynamics of various constraints on thought, and how these dynamics may be related to a perceived struggle with agency. Automatic constraints, including affective salience and mental habits, may bring about a fantasy episode. During a fantasy episode, automatic constraints may be relatively high throughout, whereas deliberate constraints may be intermittently engaged to influence the fantasy. Our analysis supports the use of “compulsive fantasy” as a more accurate designation than “maladaptive daydreaming" for this phenomenon: compulsive fantasies are not daydreams, because they are more constrained in their mental dynamics. We show that fantasy and daydreaming are not inherently harmful, but can become so when they are accompanied by relatively strong and sustained automatic constraints on thought.
Book Chapters:Forthcoming: “Daydreaming,” in The Cambridge Handbook of Thought, ed. Andre Zamani and Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva, Cambridge University Press, 2027.
In preparation: “Negative Rasas and the Paradox of Horror,” in Contemporary Debates in Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art, 2nd ed., ed. Brandon Polite, Elizabeth Scarbrough, and Aaron Meskin, Wiley, 2028.
Selected Awards
2024 - Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS)
The Vanier CGS is the Government of Canada's most prestigious award for doctoral research.
2024- Brian Laetz Graduate Essay Prize
2023 - Adroit Djanikian Scholarship
Selected Poetry & Creative Prose Publications
ONLY POEMS: Poet of the Week Feature
The Adroit Journal: 2023 Djanikian Scholar Award Portfolio
Palette Poetry: "Sand Flats, UT" Winner of the 2022 Love & Eros Prize, selected by Kaveh Akbar, 2023 Pushcart Prize Nominee
The Adroit Journal: "Passenger Car," "Dining Car," and "Viewing Car" , Issue 42, 2022
Fugue: "Quiet Car," 2023 Pushcart Prize Nominee
Sonoran Review: "Flaming Gorge, UT" (Print)
The Indiana Review: "Coal Hollow Fire, UT" (Print) Winner of the 2019 1/2 K Prize
About Place Journal: "Things We Found Out There"
Lyric Poems:
Three Hearts: An Anthology of Cephalopod Poetry: "Aubade With Deep Sea Footage," (print) 2024
The Adroit Journal: "Exorcism" and "Past Tense" , Issue 43, 2022
Witness Magazine: "Deinotherium Elegy" (Print): Winner of the 2022 Witness Award in Poetry
Sixth Finch: "Primate Elegy"
Frontier Poetry: "Migration Elegy"
Muzzle Magazine: "Metaphysics is a Dead Field"
Birdfeast Magazine: "Bedroom," "Living Room," and "Laundry Room"
Poiesis: "Dining Room," "Storage Room," and "Garden Room"
Waxwing Literary Magazine: "Map Room," "Play Room," and "Panic Room"
Thrush Poetry Journal: "Darkroom" Orinson Prize Nominee; Verse Daily Web Weekly Feature
DIAGRAM: "Between Stations"
Short Fiction:
BOOTH Magazine: "Hosting" - 2022 Pushcart Prize Nominee; 2022 Best of the Net Nominee
Reviews:
Meridian: "Review: The Popul Vuh, Translated from the K’iche’ by Michael Bazzett" ,
Meridian: “Review: You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld.” (Print) Meridian.(41): 114-116.
Interviews:
Only Poems: "Wasn't it Wisdom I Wanted?: In Conversation with Emily Lawson," by Karan Kapoor
Palette Poetry: "Interview with Emily Lawson" by A. T. Hincapie
The Philosopher's Nest S1E9: "Emily Lawson on Indian Philosophy, Death, and Imagination"
University of British Columbia: "Meet Our Award Holders: Emily Lawson"
Selected Recent and Upcoming Talks
Upcoming
November 21–24, 2026
“Macabre Visualization and Emotional Cultivation.” Buddhist Studies Unit, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Denver, CO
March 2027
“Equal Love for All: Mysore Hiriyanna on Aesthetic Experience and Communal Feeling” APA Pacific Division Meeting, Portland, OR
April 15, 2027
“Aesthetic Shock and Emotional Insight: A. K. Coomaraswamy on Saṁvega” (invited). Numata Lecture Series in Buddhist Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT
May 2027
“Death Denial and the Fog of Experience” (invited). Mortal Feelings Conference, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
August 2028
“The Place of Beauty in Rasa Theory” (invited)
Jnanapravaha Mumbai Institute, Lecture Series: Beauty in the Indian Aesthetic and Devotional Imagination, Mumbai, India
Recent
July 2026
“From Disinterested Pleasure to Unitive Feeling: Three Neo-Rasa Takes.” Canadian Philosophical Association Annual Meeting, Halifax, NS
February 18–21, 2026
Comments, Book Panel: Jed Forman, Out of Sight, Into Mind
APA Central Division Meeting, Chicago, IL
October 26, 2025
“Deathbed Aesthetics: Disgust and Courageous Love” (invited)
Asian Philosophy Workshop, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC
July 13, 2025
“Aesthetic Emotion in Indian Renaissance Aesthetics” Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
April 21, 2025
“Bees for Enactivists” Philosophy of Animal Minds and Behavior Association, Santa Barbara, CA
April 16–19, 2025
“Neo-Rasa: Expansive Empathy, Not Disinterest” (invited). Symposium: South Asian Rasa Theory Meets Contemporary Aesthetics, APA Pacific Division Meeting, San Francisco, CA
October 25, 2024
“Abhinavagupta and Two Puzzles About the Disgust Rasa”
American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL
May 20, 2024
“Rasa and Negative Emotion” (invited) Rasa 101, Rasa Fest, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
November 18–21, 2023
“Towards a Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Poetic Meaning: Rasadhvani and the Heresy of Paraphrase Thesis” Hindu Philosophy Roundtable, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX
2023
“Introduction to K. C. Bhattacharyya’s Aesthetics” (invited)
Graduate Aesthetics Seminar, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA
March 10, 2023
“Doing Deathbed Aesthetics with K. C. Bhattacharyya” American Society for Aesthetics Pacific Division Meeting, Berkeley, CA
March 2, 2023
“Daydreaming as Spontaneous Immersive Imagination” Uehiro Graduate Philosophy Conference, University of Hawaii, Manoa, HI
February 25, 2023
“Everyday Aesthetics and Deathbed Experiences” International Association of Japanese Philosophy session on Yuriko Saito, APA Central Division Meeting, Denver, CO
November 23, 2022
Comments: “Towards a Yogacāra-Informed Enactive Approach to Dreams” Author Meets Critics: Sonam Kachru, Other Lives: Mind and World in Indian Buddhism, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Denver, CO
2022
Comments, Author Meets Critics: James Reich, To Savor the Meaning: The Theology of Literary Emotions in Medieval Kashmir
American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting, Portland, OR
October 16, 2022
“Courageous Love: K. C. Bhattacharyya and the Paradox of Painful Beauty” (invited) Workshop on K. C. Bhattacharyya, Smith College, Northampton, MA
CONTACT
Philosophy Department, Buchanan Hall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
