The Link Between Aesthetic Appreciation and the Preservation Imperative

Abstract

Aldo Leopold famously observed that a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. In this chapter, we pursue Leopold’s insight by investigating the relationship between aesthetic appreciation and nature preservation. We note that in general there is a strong link between our aesthetic appreciation of an object and its preservation, but that in the case of nature it is important to understand the role of ecological concepts, such as integrity and stability, in this link. Examining the place of such ecological knowledge in the relationship between aesthetic appreciation and nature preservation requires pursuing the question of the nature of aesthetic appreciation itself. We first consider traditional answers to this question, grouping them into what we call the formalist/picturesque approach and the relativist/postmodern approach. We argue that these approaches not only exclude or belittle ecological knowledge, but also give somewhat inadequate accounts of the true nature and scope of our actual aesthetic experience of nature, specifically concerning the link between appreciation and preservation. We then introduce a cognitive approach to aesthetic appreciation, arguing that, in granting a significant role to ecological knowledge in the appreciation of nature, this approach not only gives a more adequate account of our actual aesthetic experience of nature, but also strongly supports the link between aesthetic appreciation and nature preservation. Moreover, it provides an elaboration of Leopold’s insight.