Transcript By: Cody Shoemaker The Aesthetics of Unscenic Nature

The Aesthetics of Unscenic
Nature- Yuriko Saito
BY: CODY SHOEMAKER
New Revolution
 Need to overcome pictorial appreciation of nature
 Current View: Scenically interesting nature is most
important.
 As a result, scenically challenged nature loses
aesthetic value.
Supporters of Unscenic Nature Appreciation
 Holmes Rolston- Just because an object a natural
object is less beautiful than another does not entail it
has no aesthetic properties.
 Allen Carlson- Pictorial appreciation reduces the
environment to a scene or view.
Why We Should Appreciate Unscenic Nature?
 Because our aesthetic experience may be limited or
misguided?
 Why can’t we just enjoy what appeals to us?
 “Entertainment Seekers”
Morality
 Saito suggests a moral consideration as a response to
why we should appreciate nature on its own terms.
 Rolston agrees on moral consideration.
How to Account for Positive Aesthetics in Unsatisfactory
Nature
 Rolston- Look at scenically challenged nature with a
larger context.
 Saito disagrees with Rolston- “Such beauty is beyond
our ordinary perceptual experience.” pg. 104
 “the aesthetic value of the elk with maggots is not simply
our conceptual understanding of its role in the
ecosystem, but the way in which its various sensory
qualities illustrate or express their important role” pg.
104
Cognitive Model for Art is Different than Nature
 Different in terms of Aesthetic Value.
 Art may be repulsive or the story it tells may be
boring.
 Nature is amoral.
 All nature is interesting and no story it tells can be
boring.
 Therefore, it is possible that all nature is aesthetically
positive.
Is “All” Nature Aesthetically Appreciable?
 Psychological Argument- negative reaction to
unscenic nature outweighs positive aesthetic value.
 Practical concerns of physical wellness.
Distancing
 Not enough- difficult to appreciate a bear
aesthetically if being attacked.
 Too much- Become disinterested
Natural Disasters
 An example of the Earth correcting itself.
 Realize the supremacy of our conceptual capacities.
 “Theoretically we should be able to appreciate the
way in which these natural phenomena express
the earth's workings by transcending our worldly
worry about their effects on us.” pg. 108
Conclusion
 Everything in nature is aesthetically appreciable to a
degree.
 However, aesthetic appreciation may be hindered at
times.
 Morality overrides aesthetic.