Landscape, Natural Beauty and the Arts (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and the Arts)

Landscape, natural beauty and the arts offers probing studies of the complex structure of aesthetic responses to nature. Each chapter refines and expands the terms of discussion, and together they enrich the debate with insights from art history, literary criticism, geography and philosophy. To establish a framework, T. J. Diffey explores a conception of natural beauty free from metaphysical commitments, while R. W. Hepburn considers what constitutes seriousness and triviality in the appreciation of nature. Both explain their claims by reference to art. The next papers investigate the determination of natural beauty by the arts. John Barrell analyzes the social construction of nature and the viewing subject in eighteenth-century paintings, and P. Adams Sitney clarifies how another medium - film - construes nature and determines our appreciation. Turning from the representation to the represented, Don Gifford considers the influence of the American wilderness on conceptions of natural beauty. Next Yi-Fu Tuan looks to the relation of human beings to icescapes and deserts, suggesting that perceptions of natural beauty too often depend on experiences of temperate climates. Perhaps the strongest contrast to the otherness of nature lies in its circumscription in gardening. Stephanie Ross shows how this structures contemporary environmental art. Developing the themes of the duality of gardens - their close reference to nature, and their construction out of nature under the aegis of high art - Donald Crawford defends the viability of comparisons between art and nature generally; Allen Carlson contends that the scientific understanding of nature provides a vocabulary that is inescapable even in aesthetic appreciation; and Arnold Berleant considers whether aesthetics harbors distinctive experiences, of art and nature, as part of the larger question: is appreciation engagement or contemplation? Finally, Noel Carroll explores the room for an emotional response to natural beauty, rooted in cognitions that are not simply scientific. "Landscape, natural beauty and the arts offers probing studies of the complex structure of aesthetic responses to nature. Each chapter refines and expands the terms of discussion, and together they enrich the debate with insights from art history, literary criticism, geography and philosophy." "To establish a framework, T.J. Diffey explores a conception of natural beauty free from metaphysical commitments, while R.W. Hepburn considers what constitutes seriousness and triviality in the appreciation of nature. Both explain their claims by reference to art. The next papers investigate the determination of natural beauty by the arts. John Barrell analyzes the social construction of nature and the viewing subject in eighteenth-century paintings, and P. Adams Sitney clarifies how another medium - film - construes nature and determines our appreciation. Turning from the representation to the represented, Don Gifford considers the influence of the American wilderness on conceptions of natural beauty. Next Yi-Fu Tuan looks to the relation of human beings to icescapes and deserts, suggesting that perceptions of natural beauty too often depend on experiences of temperate climates." "Perhaps the strongest contrast to the otherness of nature lies in its circumscription in gardening. Stephanie Ross shows how this structures contemporary environmental art. Developing the themes of the duality of gardens - their close reference to nature, and their construction out of nature under the aegis of high art - Donald Crawford defends the viability of comparisons between art and nature generally; Allen Carlson contends that the scientific understanding of nature provides a vocabulary that is inescapable even in aesthetic appreciation; and Arnold Berleant considers whether aesthetics harbors distinctive experiences, of art and nature, as part of the larger question: is appreciation engagement or contemplation? Finally, Noel Carroll explores the room for an emotional response to natural beauty, rooted in cognitions that are not simply scientific."--Jacket "In Explanation and value in the arts, art historians, literary theorists, and philosophers explore the sources of interest in literature and the fine arts, the intimate relation between aesthetic and other values, the involvement of values in the explanations of works, and the determining role of power." "The first chapters consider the construction of value in works. Michael Podro analyzes the density or presence of the medium, arguing that explanations must account for this significance or fail to grasp value. Walter Biemel and Wayne C. Booth propose that philosophy and morality are crucial to aesthetic valuation. The following chapters examine the construction of value in the study of the arts. Mark Roskill looks at what "extra-aesthetic" considerations make particular works historically important, and contends that literature and art history invite distinctive criteria. Svetlana Alpers assesses the contribution of Panofsky, among others, to show how methodological commitments in art history import assumptions about value; while Gregg Horowitz argues that the study of works of fine art is something other than a merely theoretical enterprise of trying to grasp the nature of objects from the past. Questions of power underlie Jon Elster's contribution, an analysis of the nature of creativity, and Pierre Bourdieu's, a philosophical and sociological construal of the principles for an explanation of cultural objects. In the final chapters, Richard Eldridge and Noel Carroll take up this theme, examining the nature and role of ideology."--Jacket Frontmatter List of contributors (page viii) Editor's acknowledgments (page ix) 1 Nature, fine arts, and aesthetics (SALIM KEMAL and IVAN GASKELL, page 1) 2 Natural beauty without metaphysics (T. J. DIFFEY, page 43) 3 Trivial and serious in aesthetic appreciation of nature (RONALD W. HEPBURN, page 65) 4 The public prospect and the private view: the politics of taste in eighteenth-century Britain (JOHN BARRELL, page 81) 5 Landscape in the cinema: the rhythms of the world and the camera (P. ADAMS SITNEY, page 103) 6 The touch of landscape (DON GIFFORD, page 127) 7 Desert and ice: ambivalent aesthetics (YI-FU TUAN, page 139) 8 Gardens, earthworks, and environmental art (STEPHANIE ROSS, page 158) 9 Comparing natural and artistic beauty (DONALD W. CRAWFORD, page 183) 10 Appreciating art and appreciating nature (ALLEN CARLSON, page 199) 11 The aesthetics of art and nature (ARNOLD BERLEANT, page 228) 12 On being moved by nature: between religion and natural history (NOËL CARROLL, page 244) Index (page 267) Now available for the first time in paperback, Landscape, natural beauty and the arts offers probing studies of the complex structure of aesthetic responses to nature. Each chapter retines and expands the terms of discussion, and together they enrich the debate with insights from art history, literary criticism, geography and philosophy.To explore the interrelation between our conceptions of nature, beauty and art, the contributors consider the social construction of nature the determination of our appreciation by artistic media and the duality of nature's determining in gardening Showing that natural beauty is impregnated with concepts derived from the arts and from particular accounts of nature, the volume occasions questions of the distinction and relation between art and nature generally, and culminates in a set of philosophical studies of the role of scientific understanding, engagement and emation in the aesthetic appreciation of nature. Nature, Fine Arts, And Aesthetics / Salim Kemal And Ivan Gaskell -- Natural Beauty Without Metaphysics / T.j. Diffey -- Trivial And Serious In Aesthetic Appreciation Of Nature / Ronald W. Hepburn -- The Public Prospect And The Private View : The Politics Of Taste In Eighteenth-century Britain / John Barrell -- Landscape In The Cinema : The Rhythms Of The World And The Camera / P. Adams Sitney -- The Touch Of Landscape / Don Gifford -- Desert And Ice : Ambivalent Aesthetics / Yi-fu Tuan -- Gardens, Earthworks, And Environmental Art / Stephanie Ross -- Comparing Natural And Artistic Beauty / Donald W. Crawford -- Appreciating Art And Appreciating Nature / Allen Carlson -- The Aesthetics Of Art And Nature / Arnold Berleant -- On Being Moved By Nature : Between Religion And Natural History / Noël Carroll. Edited By Salim Kemal And Ivan Gaskell. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A distinguished group of scholars here probes the complex structure of aesthetic responses to nature in a discussion enriched with insights from art history, literary criticism, geography and philosophy. Exploring the interrelation among nature, beauty and art, they show that natural beauty is impregnated with concepts derived from the arts and from particular accounts of nature. The distinction and relation between art and nature are questioned, and the volume culminates in philosophical studies of the role of scientific understanding, engagement and appreciation in aesthetics.

this Volume Offers Probing Studies Of The Complex Structure Of Aesthetic Responses To Nature.