Nicholas Whittaker (they/them) is a doctoral candidate in Philosophy at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Their research is focused on a cluster of interrelated questions bubbling out of contemporary black studies, philosophy of aesthetics, and metaphilosophy, united by an interrogation of the conditions of possibility of abolitionism as a politics and form of life. Their dissertation investigates the tradition of black horror cinema in order to reconstruct a black politics centered around horror as its primary affect. Their work on abolitionism, aesthetics, and race can be found in the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Film and Philosophy, New York Times, LA Review of Books, The Point, and other publications. They hold a B.A. in philosophy from Harvard University.