Book Description
Now in paperback, Aesthetics and the Environment presents fresh and fascinating insights into our interpretation of the environment. Traditional aesthetics is often associated with the appreciation of art, but Allen Carlson shows how much of our aesthetic experience does not encompass art but nature--in our response to sunsets, mountains or horizons or more mundane surroundings, like gardens or the view from our window. Carlson argues that knowledge of what it is we are appreciating is essential to having an appropriate aesthetic experience and that a scientific understanding of nature can enhance our appreciation of it, rather than denigrate it.
From the Publisher
'I found much stimulating discussion in these pages. [Carlson] is a worthy opponent for those wedded to a more Kantian or historicist approach to natural beauty.' British Journal of Aesthetics
About the author
Allen Carlson is an authority in aesthetics and has pioneered the field of environmental aesthetics. He is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alberta, Canada.
