Abstract
This philosophical paper explores the aesthetic argument for landscape conservation. The main claim is that the experience of beautiful landscapes is an essential part of the good human life. Beautiful landscapes make us feel at home in the world. Their great and irreplaceable value lies therein. To establish this claim, the concepts of landscape and “Stimmung” are clarified. It is shown how “Stimmung” (in the sense of mood) is infused into landscape (as atmosphere) and how we respond to it aesthetically. We respond by resonating or feeling at home. The paper ends by indicating how art can help us to better appreciate landscape beauty. This is done by way of an example from contemporary nature poetry, Michael Donhauser’s Variationen in Prosa, which begins with “Und was da war, es nahm uns an” (“And what was there accepted us”).
Highlights
This philosophical paper explores the aesthetic argument for landscape conservation
The loss of landscape beauty would affect the quality of my life, but only marginally: I love beautiful landscapes and believe that they are irreplaceable
The loss of landscape beauty would affect the quality of my life fundamentally: The experience of natural beauty is a necessary part of my good life
Summary
Think of your favourite places in nature, where you like to go hiking or cycling or where you just like to be, watching, listening, feeling, enjoying it all. Imagine that all these places no longer exist, that natural beauty has become extinct How would this affect the quality of your life? Let me go back to the question I started with: How would a world devoid of landscape beauty affect your quality of life? A world lacking natural beauty, would be an impoverished world, just like a world lacking music or painting would be impoverished This would not prevent me from being able to have a fairly good life. 3. The loss of landscape beauty would affect the quality of my life fundamentally: The experience of natural beauty is a necessary part of my good life. The thought experiment that I asked you to perform is about how the loss of landscape beauty would affect the objective quality of your life.). I will stick to what I believe are the most probable answers
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