Aesthetic Engagement as a Pathway to Mental Health and Well-being

Abstract

Abstract It is widely accepted that the quality of interpersonal relationships is directly linked to the development and maintenance of a healthy sense of self. When it comes to mental health, the quality of relationships matters. Yet there has been limited research and attention given to the quality of our relationship with the physical world around us. Environmental aesthetics has emerged in the last fifty years from the fields of aesthetics and environmental philosophy, and philosopher Arnold Berleant developed the idea of aesthetic engagement to draw attention to the sensorial reciprocity between the perceiver and any given environment. Rejecting the subject–object dualism inherent in traditional accounts of aesthetic appreciation, aesthetic engagement points to how sense perception becomes central to understanding self-experience. This chapter examines the intersection between environmental aesthetics and the psychology of the self. Highlighting the psychological value of distinguishing between the aesthetic and non-aesthetic engagement with environments, the chapter proposes ways in which the concept of aesthetic engagement illuminates our understanding of what constitutes a psychologically healthy sense of self.