Environmental Aesthetics

The Aesthetic Value of Animals

by Glenn Parsons

Although recent work in philosophical aesthetics has brought welcome attention to the beauty of nature, the aesthetic... more Although recent work in philosophical aesthetics has brought welcome attention to the beauty of nature, the aesthetic appreciation of animals remains rarely discussed. In this essay, I trace the existence of this gap in aesthetic theory to certain ethical difficulties with aesthetically appreciating animals. I suggest that these can be avoided by focusing on the aesthetic quality of ‘looking fit for function’. I defend this approach to animal beauty by arguing against the view that ‘looking fit’ is a non-aesthetic quality, and by replying to Edmund Burke’s famous critique of the connection between fitness and the beauty of animals.

Investigation of Environmental Topics in the Science and Technology Curriculum and Textbooks in Terms of Environmental Ethics and Aesthetics

by Halil Eksi

Canan LAÇİN ŞİMŞEK
Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice - 11(4) • Autumn • 2252-2257

In order to solve environmental problems, it is thought that education should be connected with values. For this... more In order to solve environmental problems, it is thought that education should be connected with values. For this reason, it is emphasized that environmental issues should be integrated with ethical and aesthetic values. In this study, 6th, 7th and 8th grade science and technology curriculum and textbooks were investigated to find out how much environmental ethics and environmental aesthetics were mentioned in the topics related to environmental
education. In the study, a descriptive methodology had been followed; the data were gathered through document analysis and analyzed in line with the determined themes. The themes related to environmental ethics
are respect, value, responsibility, participation and compensation. For environmental aesthetics the aesthetic
aspects of the visuals, the emphasis on the beauty of nature and the harmony between pictures and the topic were assessed. At the end of the study, it was found that both in the curriculum and in the textbooks environmental
topics are generally explained through a nature-centered approach. However, it was seen that environmental
ethics and aesthetics were not mentioned enough. It was determined that responsibility and participation
elements of environmental ethics were emphasized but respect, value and compensation elements were neglected.

Beauty and Public Policy

by Glenn Parsons

This essay was commissioned in 2010 by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment in the U.K. as part... more This essay was commissioned in 2010 by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment in the U.K. as part of their project "People and Places: Public Attitudes To Beauty". Other material relating to this project is available on CABE's web archive at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http://www.cabe.org.uk/publications/people-and-places

Science, Nature and Moore's Syncretic Aesthetic

by Glenn Parsons

In his book "Natural Beauty", Ronald Moore presents a novel account of our aesthetic encounters with the... more In his book "Natural Beauty", Ronald Moore presents a novel account of our aesthetic encounters with the natural world. In this essay, I consider the relation between Moore’s ‘syncretic aesthetic’ and rival views of the aesthetics of nature, particularly the view sometimes called ‘scientific cognitivism’. After discussing Moore’s characterization of rival views in general, and scientific cognitivism in particular, I rehearse his reasons for rejecting the latter view. I critique these arguments, but also suggest that scientific cognitivism and the syncretic aesthetic need not, after all, be viewed as incompatible notions.

The Aesthetics of Nature

by Glenn Parsons

The aesthetics of nature is a growing sub-field of contemporary aesthetics. In this article, I outline the view called... more The aesthetics of nature is a growing sub-field of contemporary aesthetics. In this article, I outline the view called ‘Scientific cognitivism’, which has been central in recent discussions of nature aesthetics. In assessing two important arguments for this
view, I outline some recent thinking about key issues for the aesthetics of nature, including the relationship between nature and art and the relevance of ethical considerations to the aesthetic appreciation of nature.

Freedom and objectivity in the aesthetic appreciation of nature

by Glenn Parsons

Natural beauty has often been viewed as a somewhat vague and subjective matter. Even theorists who view disputes... more Natural beauty has often been viewed as a somewhat vague and subjective matter. Even theorists who view disputes concerning the aesthetic value of artworks as involving correct and incorrect judgements have argued that, in many disputes concerning natural beauty, there are no correct or incorrect views. In this essay, I consider recent attempts to develop a more objectivist view of nature appreciation based on the role of scientific knowledge in such appreciation. In response to recent criticisms of this approach, I argue that, when developed, it does provide a viable conception of objectivity for nature aesthetics.

Natural functions and the aesthetic appreciation of inorganic nature

by Glenn Parsons

The distinction between organic and inorganic nature receives little attention in contemporary nature aesthetics.... more The distinction between organic and inorganic nature receives little attention in contemporary nature aesthetics. Traditionally, however, this distinction was considered to have important aesthetic ramifications. Nick Zangwill has recently suggested that aesthetic differences between organic and inorganic nature arise because natural functions are present only in organic nature (for example, in the parts of organisms). I argue for a different explanation: though inorganic nature too has natural functions, these are metaphysically distinct from those characteristic of organic nature. I defend the claim that this difference in functions is aesthetically significant, and use it to justify a common intuition about the thesis of positive aesthetics for nature.

Nature appreciation, science, and positive aesthetics

by Glenn Parsons

Scientific cognitivism is the idea that nature must be aesthetically appreciated in light of scientific information... more Scientific cognitivism is the idea that nature must be aesthetically appreciated in light of scientific information about it. I defend Carlson’s traditional formulation of scientific
cognitivism from some recent criticisms. However, I also argue that if we employ this formulation it is difficult to uphold two claims that Carlson makes about scientific cognitivism: (1) it is the correct analysis of the notion of appropriate aesthetic appreciation of nature and (2) it justifies the idea that nature, seen aright, is always beautiful (i.e., positive aesthetics about nature). I attempt to find a revised formulation of scientific cognitivism that can support both of these claims. I argue that to do this we must rethink the notion of positive aesthetics and its place in our theorizing about the appropriate aesthetic appreciation of nature. Specifically, I propose that positive aesthetics be made ‘internal’ to the theory of appropriate aesthetic appreciation, in the sense that this theory determine the correct scientific categories for appreciating a natural object, in part, in virtue of a ‘beauty-making’ criterion. I argue that this sort of formulation of scientific cognitivism can support both of Carlson’s claims and does not compromise the objectivist scruples that motivate the view.

Aesthetics, Ethics and Nature in Adorno

by Eric S. Nelson

"Aesthetics, Ethics and Nature in Adorno," In: Carroll, Jerome / Giles, Steve / Oergel, Maike (eds), Aesthetics and Modernity from Schiller to the Frankfurt School (Peter Lang, 2012), 319-341.

In response to Jürgen Habermas’s critical assessment of the import of Theodor Adorno’s aesthetics, I revisit Adorno’s... more In response to Jürgen Habermas’s critical assessment of the import of Theodor Adorno’s aesthetics, I revisit Adorno’s aesthetics in the context of the question of whether and to what extent there can be an aesthetics of nature, and the potential ethical and social-political significance of such an aesthetics.

Re-Envisioning Nature: The Role of Aesthetics in Environmental Ethics

by Bryan Bannon

Environmental Ethics 33 (2011): 415-36

This paper is an example of using themes of concern in European philosophy to intervene in debates in analytical circles.

The discussion of environmental aesthetics as it relates to ethics has primarily been concerned with how to harmonize... more The discussion of environmental aesthetics as it relates to ethics has primarily been concerned with how to harmonize aesthetic judgments of nature’s beauty with ecological judgments of nature’s health. This discussion brings to our attention the need for new perceptual norms for the experience of nature. Hence, focusing exclusively on the question of whether a work of “environmental art” is good or bad for the ecological health of a system occludes the important role such works can play in formulating new perceptual norms and metaphors for nature. To illustrate this point, the work of sculptor Andy Goldsworthy presents us with a different perception of time that is ethically useful.

RETURNING THE RADIANT GAZE: Visual Art and Embodiment in a World of Subjects

by Beth Carruthers

Art, Place and the Meaning of Home

by Beth Carruthers

A commissioned essay for The Stanley Park Environmental Art Project at Vancouver, Canada

Open country: Towards a material environmental aesthetics

by Warwick Mules

Il bello naturale nell’estetica contemporanea

by Luca Vargiu

LANGUAGE: Italian.
Published in: Hortus Artis. Natura & artificio, catalogue of the exhibition (Cagliari 10-13/6/1998), Origamundi, Cagliari 1998, pp. 22-23.

Integral Sustainable Design: transformative perspectives

by Mark DeKay

New book. Available from Amazon, Earthscan, or Routledge web sites

This book offers practical and theoretical tools for more effective sustainable design solutions and for communicating... more This book offers practical and theoretical tools for more effective sustainable design solutions and for communicating sustainable design ideas to today's diverse stakeholders.

It uses integral theory to make sense of the many competing ideas in this area and offers a powerful conceptual framework for sustainable designers through the four main perspectives of: behaviours; systems; experiences; cultures.

It also uses human developmental theory to reframe sustainable design across four levels of complexity present in society: the Traditional, Modern, Postmodern, and Integral waves. Profuse with illustrations and examples, the book offers many conceptual tools including:

• twelve principles of integral sustainable design
• sixteen prospects of sustainable design
• six perceptual shifts for ecological design thinking
• five levels of sustainable design aesthetics
• ten injunctions for designing connections to nature.

‘The Ethics and Aesthetics of Topiary’

by Isis Brook

Written with With Emily Brady  and published in Ethics and the Environment 8:1 2003, 127-142.

In this paper we discuss ethical and aesthetic questions in relation to the garden practice of topiary.  We begin... more In this paper we discuss ethical and aesthetic questions in relation to the garden practice of topiary.  We begin by considering the ethical concerns arising from the uneasiness some appreciators might feel when experiencing topiary as a manipulation or contortion of natural processes.  We then turn to ways in which topiary might cause an 'aesthetic affront' through the humanizing effects of sentimentality and falsification of nature (most often found in representational rather than abstract topiary).  Our contention is that successful topiary emerges through a dynamic and positive relationship between topiarist and tree, where the gardener works with nature's forms instead of in strong opposition to them.  Appreciation of successful topiary, we shall argue, is marked by an experience of both the tree as living thing and the artifice which has shaped it.

'Aesthetic Aspects of Unauthorized Environmental Interventions’

by Isis Brook

published in Ethics, Place and Environment, 10:3, 2007, pp.307-318.

Abstract
Through a number of examples of environmental interventions this paper makes a claim that the... more Abstract
Through a number of examples of environmental interventions this paper makes a claim that the unauthorised nature of some interventions is an integral part of their aesthetic quality.  This does not mean that all such interventions have these qualities only that the regulation of what can be done where and by whom could endanger the production of a rich seam of aesthetic experience, such as edginess and whimsy, and the aesthetic engagement of artists and the general public with places. 

'Wildness in the English Garden Tradition: A reassessment of the Picturesque from environmental philosophy’

by Isis Brook

published in Ethics and the Environment 13:1, 2008 pp.105-120.
An extended version of this paper also appears in Malpas, J. ed. 2011 The Place of Landscape, Cambridge,Ms: The MIT Press. 165-181. This chapter includes a discussion of viewing stations and the Claude glass.

The picturesque is usually interpreted as an admiration of ‘picture-like’, and thus inauthentic, nature. In contrast,... more The picturesque is usually interpreted as an admiration of ‘picture-like’, and thus inauthentic, nature. In contrast, this paper sets out an interpretation that is more in accord with the contemporary love of wildness. I briefly cover some garden history in order to contextualize the discussion and proceed by reassessing the picturesque through the eighteenth century works of Price and Watelet. I identify six themes in their work (variety, intricacy, engagement, time, chance, and transition) and show that, far from forcing a ‘picture-like’ stereotype on nature, the picturesque guided the way for a new appreciation of wildness – one that resonates with contemporary environmental philosophy.

Ronald Hepburn and the humanising of Environmental Aesthetics

by Isis Brook

This is a short piece on Ronald Hepburn's work and its value for contemporary and future environmntal aesthetics.  It is the editorial of the special issue on environmental aesthetics of the journal Environmental Values vol 19:3, 2010

Reading the Animal: An Ecocritical Approach to the Discourse of the Sublime in Coleridge’s "Ancient Mariner"

by Peter Heymans

Published in The Coleridge Bulletin 30.2 (2007): 17-26.