Philosophy

	Objectivity in Environmental Aesthetics and Protection of the Environment by Ned Hettinger This talk explores the debate about objectivity and relativity in environmental aesthetics. It examines arguments for aesthetic relativism in environmental appreciation, assesses their merits, and explores their implications for the attempt to protect the environment on aesthetic grounds ("aesthetic protectionism"). The paper also considers positions in environmental aesthetics that provide for significant dimensions of objectivity. My purpose in assessing the debate between relativity and objectivity in environmental aesthetics is to determine to what extent this debate matters for aesthetic protectionism. Does environmental aesthetic relativism really undermine the use of environmental beauty for environmental protection? Is the objectivity provided by the objectivists such that it will allow aesthetics to play a useful role in environmental protection? I consider the suggestion that a cognitive view of environmental aesthetics is necessary if environmental aesthetics is to "contribute to preserving sustainable landscapes" and criticize the claim that the protection of nature will be better served by aesthetic responses based on knowledge of nature, rather than ignorance about it.
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Objectivity in Environmental Aesthetics and Protection of the Environment

by Ned Hettinger

This talk explores the debate about objectivity and relativity in environmental aesthetics. It examines arguments for aesthetic relativism in environmental appreciation, assesses their merits, and explores their implications for the attempt to protect the environment on aesthetic grounds ("aesthetic protectionism"). The paper also considers positions in environmental aesthetics that provide for significant dimensions of objectivity. My purpose in assessing the debate between relativity and objectivity in environmental aesthetics is to determine to what extent this debate matters for aesthetic protectionism. Does environmental aesthetic relativism really undermine the use of environmental beauty for environmental protection? Is the objectivity provided by the objectivists such that it will allow aesthetics to play a useful role in environmental protection? I consider the suggestion that a cognitive view of environmental aesthetics is necessary if environmental aesthetics is to "contribute to preserving sustainable landscapes" and criticize the claim that the protection of nature will be better served by aesthetic responses based on knowledge of nature, rather than ignorance about it.