The Fundamental Problem of Environmental Aesthetics

Abstract

Abstract The central issue in environmental aesthetics is whether there are norms that constrain aesthetic judgments about nature. This chapter will first explain why the search for constraints on aesthetic judgments about natural objects plays such a central role in environmental aesthetics. It will then try to figure out what kinds of norms might be invoked, and what principles or assumptions explain the choice of norms. The chapter considers two aspects of aesthetic judgment about which one might attempt to lay down some norms. One concerns the objects of aesthetic judgment. The other covers the background knowledge one needs to make appropriate or correct judgments. The chapter concludes by considering what role, if any, imagination and emotion play in such judgments.