Nature, Aesthetics, and Environmentalism

by Carlson, Allen

• ISBN13: 9780231138871
• ISBN10: 0231138873
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-03-15
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

Environmental aesthetics is an emerging field of study that focuses on nature's aesthetic value as well as on its ethical and environmental implications. Drawing on the research of a number of disciplines, this exciting new area speaks to scholars working in a range of fields, including not only philosophy, but also environmental and cultural studies, public policy and planning, social and political theory, landscape design and management, and art and architecture.Nature, Aesthetics, and Environmentalism: From Beauty to Dutyaddresses the complex relationships between aesthetic appreciation and environmental issues and emphasizes the valuable contribution that environmental aesthetics can make to environmentalism. Allen Carlson, a pioneer in environmental aesthetics, and Sheila Lintott, who has published widely in aesthetics, combine important historical essays on the appreciation of nature with the best contemporary research in the field. They begin with classic pieces by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, John Muir, John Burroughs, and Aldo Leopold, as well as an essay by Eugene Hargrove that lays out the scientific, artistic, and aesthetic foundations of current environmental beliefs and attitudes. The second section of the book addresses prevailing views on the conceptualization of nature and the various debates on how to properly and respectfully appreciate nature. The third section introduces positive aesthetics, the belief that everything in nature is essentially beautiful, even the devastation caused by earthquakes or floods. The essays in the final section explicitly bring together aesthetics, ethics, and environmentalism to explore the ways in which each might affect the others.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: Natural Aesthetic Value and Environmentalism	p. 1
Historical Foundations	p. 23
The Historical Foundations of American Environmental Attitudes	p. 29
The Nature of Beauty	p. 49
Walking	p. 54
A Near View of the High Sierra	p. 64
The Art of Seeing Things	p. 76
A Taste for Country: Country, Natural History, and the Conservation Esthetic	p. 86
Nature and Aesthetic Value	p. 99
Leopold's Land Aesthetic	p. 105
Aesthetic Appreciation of the Natural Environment	p. 119
Icebreakers: Environmentalism and Natural Aesthetics	p. 133
Appreciating Nature on Its Own Terms	p. 151
On Being Moved by Nature: Between Religion and Natural History	p. 169
Scientific Knowledge and the Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature	p. 188
Nature and Positive Aesthetics	p. 205
Nature and Positive Aesthetics	p. 211
The Aesthetics of Unscenic Nature	p. 238
Aesthetics and the Value of Nature	p. 254
Valuing Nature and the Autonomy of Natural Aesthetics	p. 268
The Aesthetics of Nature	p. 286
Nature Appreciation, Science, and Positive Aesthetics	p. 302
Nature, Aesthetic Value, and Environmentalism	p. 319
From Beauty to Duty: Aesthetics of Nature and Environmental Ethics	p. 325
The Beauty That Requires Health	p. 339
Cultural Sustainability: Aligning Aesthetics and Ecology	p. 363
Toward Ecofriendly Aesthetics	p. 380
Aesthetic Character and Aesthetic Integrity in Environmental Conservation	p. 397
Objectivity in Environmental Aesthetics and Protection of the Environment	p. 413
Sources	p. 439
Contributors	p. 441
Index	p. 445
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