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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. 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 Combining a clear and engaging style with a sophisticated treatment of a fascinating subject, Aesthetics and Nature 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
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