Aesthetics and nature : the appreciation of natural beauty and the environment / Glenn Parsons.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Parsons, Glenn, author.

Contributor:

Beth & Matthew Mezvinsky Collection Fund for Modern Philosophy.

Series:

Bloomsbury aesthetics (Bloomsbury (Firm))

Bloomsbury Aesthetics Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nature (Aesthetics).

Philosophy.

philosophy.

Physical Description:

ix, 389 pages ; 24 cm.

Edition:

[2024 edition]

Place of Publication:

[S.l.] : BLOOMSBURY, 2023.

London, UK ; New York, NY ; Dublin, Ireland : Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2024.

Summary:

The appreciation of nature and natural beauty demands our attention as environmental issues become ever more urgent. In this timely introduction, Glenn Parsons provides an overview of philosophical work on the aesthetics of nature, identifying key conceptual questions, clarifying central theories, and analyzing the ethical ramifications of our experience of natural beauty. Outlining five major approaches to understanding the aesthetic value of nature, this second edition explores the aesthetic appreciation of nature as it occurs in wilderness, in gardens, and in the context of appreciating environmental art. Now updated to cover recent developments in the field, it includes: · A new chapter on the sublime, the picturesque, and the beautiful · Expanded discussion of empirical and evolutionary accounts of nature appreciation, as well as the appreciation of the environment in non-Western cultures · A new chapter on the aesthetic appreciation of animals · An in-depth analysis of the appreciation of nature through cinema and photography · Discussion of the relation between environmental appreciation and climate change <b></b> Combining a clear and engaging style with a sophisticated treatment of a fascinating subject, <i>Aesthetics and Nature</i> explores the aesthetic dimension of humanity's relationship with our physical surroundings. This a must-read for anyone who cares about nature and the future of our environment.

Contents:

Introduction: Aesthetics and nature from an analytic perspective

Chapter 1: The conceptual background: Nature

1.1 The end of nature?

1.2 Is 'nature' a useful concept?

1.3 Some alternatives: Wilderness, landscape, environment

Chapter 2: The conceptual background: Aesthetic value

2.1 Beauty

2.2 The sublime, the picturesque, and the aesthetic

2.3 Two questions about aesthetic value

2.4 Two accounts of the aesthetic

Chapter 3: Imagination, belief, and the aesthetics of nature

3.1 From ethics to ice cream

3.2 Thought content

3.3 Anything goes? A relativist approach

3.4 Objections to the relativist approach

Chapter 4: Formalism

4.1 Traditional Formalism

4.2 Strengths of Formalism

4.3 Quantification and Formalism in empirical landscape assessment

4.4 Objections to traditional Formalism

4.5 Zangwill's Formalism

Chapter 5: Science and nature aesthetics

5.1 Science and the 'nature critic'

5.2 Another turn in the taste for landscape? Positive aesthetics

5.3 Objections to the science-based approach

5.4 The fusion problem

Chapter 6: Pluralism

6.1 A modest pluralism

6.2 Robust pluralism

6.3 Problems for robust pluralism

6.4 Modest pluralism again

Chapter 7: Nature and the aesthetics of engagement

7.1 The challenge to disinterestedness

7.2 An engaged aesthetic for nature

7.3 Problems for the engaged aesthetic

7.4 Engagement, unity, and aesthetic experience

Chapter 8: Animals

8.1 Appreciating animals

8.2 Normative questions

8.3 Are there ugly species?

Chapter 9: Aesthetic issues in nature protection, restoration, and rewilding

9.1 Aesthetic protection in theory and practice

9.2 Two issues for Aesthetic Protectionism

9.3 Aesthetic protection, morality, and the problem of Taste

9.4 Biodiversity and the politics of aesthetic protection

9.5 Aesthetic remediation, restoration, and rewilding

Chapter 10: The sublime, the picturesque, and the beautiful

10.1 The rise and fall of the sublime

10.2 Contemporary theories of the sublime

10.3 Reappraising the picturesque

10.4 Beauty, Taste, and love of place

Chapter 11: Nature in the garden

11.1 The garden as nature

11.2 The garden as art

11.3 Is nature essential to the garden?

11.4 Appreciating gardens: Interaction, atmosphere, achievement

Chapter 12: Art in nature

12.1 The ethics of environmental art: Four questions

12.2 Environmental art: An affront to nature?

12.3 Is the effrontery charge justified?

12.4 Is the effrontery charge coherent?

Chapter 13: Nature through art: Mediated appreciation

13.1 Mediated appreciation

13.2 Two problems for mediated appreciation

13.3 Beyond accuracy: Generative mediation

Epilogue: Aesthetics in the Anthropocene? Philosophical and empirical challenges

Notes:

"First published in Great Britain 2008."--Title page verso

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Beth & Matthew Mezvinsky Collection Fund for Modern Philosophy.

Other Format:

Print version: Parsons, Glenn Aesthetics and Nature

ISBN:

9781350121591

1350121592

9781350121584

1350121584

OCLC:

1345216443

Publisher Number:

99995175223