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WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL AESTHETICS?
One of the most encouraging signs in the widespread interest in environmental values is
the recognition of the importance of the aesthetic. Aesthetic values are a large part of
what draws people to environmental activities and issues. But this is not as simple as it
may seem. Many ideas and issues are easily confused here, and not the least of these
is the nature of environmental aesthetics.
Confusion often surrounds those committed to the idea of environmental aesthetics. It
is like discord in a family in which everyone loves everyone else but no one can say
anything without misunderstanding and discord. In neither case is this inevitable. Let
me take the easy task and talk about environmental aesthetics.
Like so many disagreements, profound as well as trivial, people with environmental
concerns share many of the same interests and values but don't know how to talk
about them with one another. clearly and understandably. Much of the difficulty comes
from a confusion about what is understood by 'aesthetics.' Philosophers and other
scholars see aesthetics as a branch of philosophy concerned with understanding the
intrinsic values we ascribe to works of art and to natural beauty. What does
appreciation consist of here? Where is the value located that we recognize in
appreciation? How do other values bear on aesthetic value? In what ways do our
knowledge and understanding play a part in recognizing these values, values not only
aesthetic but others, such as moral, economic, and historical?
1. environment
Perhaps we can begin by considering what environment is. In Western cultures we are
accustomed to segregating and objectifying whatever we are trying to understand. This
is the time-honored approach of scientific inquiry and it has funded remarkable
advances in knowledge, knowledge that exemplifies Francis Bacon's understanding of
man's power over nature. While this approach has transformed the conditions and
quality of human life, the heedless exploitation of the gifts of nature have desensitized
us to the state of our environment and has led us to the point of self-destruction, where
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the very conditions of human life are threatened: water, air, food, and psychological and
social well-being.
This situation belies the philosophical premise underlying the domination and
exploitation of nature. It demonstrates the undeniable fact that we cannot wholly
objectify nature. We cannot segregate nature or separate ourselves from environment.
We are, flesh and bone, the product of the environment with which we coexist. Not only
our activities but our thoughts and feelings are profoundly influenced by climate,
topography, wind, and water conditions. We are, in other words, inseparable from our
environment. That is why one should speak of environment rather than "the"
environment. When we talk about "the" environment, we tend to treat it as something
independent of us, as a separate place. It is as if we could objectify environment, give it
limits-- circumscribe it. On the other hand, speaking simply of "environment" recognizes
that environment is indeterminate, that its extent varies with the situation. Moreover and
most importantly, "environment" is not "out there" but includes me as an active part.
Environment is always "here."
2. two senses of 'aesthetics
But what does this have to do with aesthetics? 'Aesthetics' is the key term here and it is
used with two different meanings. One refers to appreciation and the other to
philosophical understanding.
Popular meaning differs from the philosophical. It identifies the aesthetic as an
important value, beauty, that is present along with the other interests we have in
environment. Just as humans are not distinct from nature nor especially favored by
nature, aesthetic values are embedded in natural conditions. Our experiences with the
natural world are suffused with aesthetic values, from the greening of the grass in early
spring to the ever-changing cloud formations in the sky. We find delight and renewal in
these simple perceptions, not to mention the poignant intimacy of a flower and
spectacular vistas across the landscape. And it is well that we recognize these
aesthetic values. They bring free delight to our lives and may evoke a sense of our
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ephemeral participation in those processes. This pleasurable awareness has been
called "the aesthetic appreciation of nature. "
But what such appreciation consists in, how it can be described, and how and why it
should be cultivated are other, different questions, philosophical questions. Sensitive
awareness and appreciation of the sensory conditions in environmental experience fill
the greater part of our lives, whether we engage with the cosmic glories of a sunset,
poke our way through the squalor of a slum, or try to find our way through the drab
uniformity of a suburban development. We delight in glimpsing the glistening skin of a
seal as it breaks the surface of the water, in the expanse of the landscape we inhabit as
it radiates from us in every direction, just as we thrill to the pristine surface of a fresh
snowfall that hides every blemish and irregularity, or marvel in the impartiality and
profusion of nature with the delicate greens of leaves bursting their casings in early
spring. It enriches us to be aware of such sensory qualities and to enjoy them for their
intrinsic appeal and unique qualities.
This is the aesthetic appreciation of environment. It is 'aesthetic' in the adjectival sense
and life is the better for recognizing and enjoying the perceptual qualities of
environment. This appreciation is not the same as the meaning we give to such
experiences and our understanding that tries to identify what that aesthetic value is.
This is aesthetics as a noun, as a cognitive discipline, as the name of a field of
philosophical inquiry. The word ‘aesthetic’ comes from the Greek aisthesis, literally,
perception by the senses, and whatever more we would like to say about this, sensory
awareness is a central part of the experience we call aesthetic. To my mind, this is its
core philosophical meaning.
Thus there is a basicdifference between aesthetic appreciation (experience) and our
understanding of such experiences (aesthetic theory). The first is an experience of
active receptivity, while the second is a cognitive act of describing and explaining that
experience. When we say that we should approach such experiences with openness
and without preconceptions, we are expressing an idea about aesthetic appreciation
(philosophical aesthetics). When we insist that moral and social values should be
excluded from aesthetic appreciation, we are making a philosophical claim, just as in
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the assertion that artists should be free to follow their creative intuitions and not be
bound by social, political, or moral conventions.
Appreciation can be developed. Some environmental values are so direct that it takes
no more than noticing them to evoke appreciation, although such attention is not
automatic and can be enhanced by focusing our attention. It is easy to be
environmentally blind and simply unaware of the quality of light or the temperature of
the air. We may fail to notice the décor of a room or the color of a person’s eyes.
Having these pointed out can make us aware of environmental values that, of course,
are everywhere and always present to a receptive sensibility. Moreover, these
aesthetic environmental values are not always positive. Who has not noticed the smells
of an incinerator or a fast-food restaurant; who has not been besieged by the attention-
seeking signage along a commercial strip or forced into a protective stupor by the
soporific sounds of Muzak in a restaurant or waiting room?
All these are experiences of aesthetic value. But when we try to understand them,
when we discuss why some are pleasant and positive and others are not, whether their
value is situated in the object, in our feelings or other responses, or in the total situation
in which we experience them, we are entering into an aesthetic query. Such inquiry
happens, too, when we compare differing experiences and judgments of aesthetic
value. Aesthetic inquiry informs the debate on whether moral criteria are relevant in
judging a movie or aesthetic criteria in planning a slum clearance project.
It is important to be clear about the difference between appreciation and understanding.
It does not promote environmental values to confuse the two; on the contrary, it
enriches our encounters with these values in recognizing that they are different. So
perhaps it would be best to leave debates about aesthetic environmental values to the
discussion table and center on our experiences of aesthetic value as we delight in our
walks in the woods or strolls in an historic district.
Arnold Berleant
4 June 2017 (1419 words)
