Cover of Essays in Philosophy
>> Go to Current Issue

Essays in Philosophy

Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2002
Environmental Aesthetics

Table of Contents

Already a subscriber? - Login here
Not yet a subscriber? - Subscribe here

Displaying: 1-16 of 16 documents


essays
1. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Yuriko Saito Scenic National Landscapes: Common Themes in Japan and the United States
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
2. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Steve Matthews A Hybrid Theory of Environmentalism
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The destruction and pollution of the natural environment poses two problems for philosophers. The first is political and pragmatic: which theory of the environment is best equipped to impact policymakers heading as we are toward a series of potential ecocatastrophes? The second is more central: On the environment philosophers tend to fall either side of an irreconcilable divide. Either our moral concerns are grounded directly in nature, or the appeal is made via an anthropocentric set of interests. The lack of a common ground is disturbing. In this paper I attempt to diagnose the reason for this lack. I shall agree that wild nature lacks features of intrinsic moral worth, and that leaves a puzzle: Why is it once we subtract the fact that there is such a lack, we are left with strong intuitions against the destruction and/or pollution of wild nature? Such intuitions can be grounded only in a strong sense of aesthetic concern combined with a common-sense regard for the interests of sentient life as it is indirectly affected by the quality of the environment. I suggest also that of the positions on offer, a hybrid theory of the environment is best suited to address our first problem, that of having an effective influence in the polity.
3. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Thomas Heyd Nature Restoration Without Dissimulation: Learning from Japanese Gardens and Earthworks
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
4. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Ken Cussen Aesthetics and Environmental Argument
abstract | view |  rights & permissions | cited by
The human-centred notion of the “instrumental value of nature” and the eco-centred notion of the “intrinsic value of nature” both fail to provide satisfactory grounds for the preservation of wild nature. This paper seeks to identify some reasons for that failure and to suggest that the structure - though not the content - of the “aesthetic value” approach is the most promising alternative, though the notion of “the aesthetic value of nature”, as usually employed, also fails to capture the real motivation for such preservation. I argue that these problems arise because humans are, for good reasons, deeply ambivalent about their relation to nature. This ambivalence is explained in a Nietzschean context and I argue that an understanding of this ambivalence can be used to develop and illustrate a fuller and richer understanding of what we mean by “the value of nature” which does provide grounds for the preservation of wild nature.
5. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Emily Brady Interpreting Environments
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
discussions
6. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Andrew Mitchell A Response to the Reply of William O. Stephens to “Friendship Amongst the Self-Sufficient: Epicurus”
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
7. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
William O. Stephens If Friendship Hurts, an Epicurean Deserts: A Reply to Andrew Mitchell
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
book reviews
8. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Mark Owen Webb Review of Key Concepts in Eastern Philosophy, by Oliver Leaman
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
9. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Steven Schroeder Review of Martin and Hannah: A Novel, by Catherine Clément
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
10. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Steven Schroeder Review of Philosophy of Literature, by Christopher New
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
11. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Jonathan J. Sanford Review of Aristotle’s Ethics, by David Bostock
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
12. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Joseph Prabhu Review of Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy, by John Rawls, ed. Barbara Herman
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
13. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Elizabeth Millán-Zaibert Review of The Roots of Romanticism, by Isaiah Berlin
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
14. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Alexander Klein Review of Labyrinth: A Search for the Hidden Meaning of Science, by Peter Pesic
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
15. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
David Boersema Review of Reconsidering Logical Positivism, by Michael Friedman
view |  rights & permissions | cited by
16. Essays in Philosophy: Volume > 3 > Issue: 1
Dennis R. Cooley Review of What We Owe To Each Other, by T.M. Scanlon
view |  rights & permissions | cited by