A Study On Positive Aesthetics Of Environmental Aesthetics

Canadian environmental aesthetician Allen Carlson thought positive aesthetics as an important position in the field of environmental aesthetics according to the traditional idea that all nature is beautiful in 1984,which gave rise to a lasting debate in the field of aesthetics.This paper focuses on positive aesthetics in contemporary environmental aesthetics,researching the generative context of positive aesthetics,explaining the main connotation of positive aesthetics,discussing some arguments for positive aesthetics,analyzing some debates about positive aesthetics,exploring the ecological aesthetics implication from positive aesthetics,so as to promote the development of relevant fields of contemporary natural aesthetics and environmental aesthetics and ecological aesthetics.The main content contains four components in detail.The first key point is the background and connotation of positive aesthetics,which is the main content of chapter 1.Positive aesthetics as a kind of aesthetics form is not born out of nothing,but has its specific historical tradition,contemporary context and disciplinary path.From the vertical perspective,positive aesthetics is developed from the traditional idea that all nature is beautiful and we can say that the idea that all nature is beautiful is the theoretical predecessor of positive aesthetics.From the horizontal perspective,positive aesthetics was born in the second half of the 20th century,which is closely related to the increasingly serious global environmental crisis,especially the advent of the Anthropocene,which provides the context for the generation of positive aesthetics.From the perspective of discipline,positive aesthetics is the product of contemporary western environmental aesthetics,and it is in the field of contemporary western environmental aesthetics that the traditional idea of all nature is beautiful turns out to be positive aesthetics.Compared with the traditional idea of all nature is beautiful,the connotation of positive aesthetics is richer.In aesthetic way,positive aesthetics emphasizes that appropriate natural aesthetic appreciation is the precondition of positive aesthetics;in aesthetic view,positive aesthetics emphasizes that all nature has positive aesthetic equalities,and beauty is just one kind of aesthetic equalities;in quality,positive aesthetics emphasizes that the aesthetic value of all natural things is positive in essence,but just the quantity of aesthetic value of natural things is different;in environmental ethics,positive aesthetics maintains that all nature is essentially aesthetically good;in modality,positive aesthetics claims that the aesthetic judgment of nature is necessarily positive and there is almost no negative aesthetic judgment;in practical appeal,positive aesthetics stresses the importance role of natural beauty in conservation and provides an aesthetic ground for contemporary environmentalism.The second key point is about some arguments for positive aesthetics,which is the main content of chapter 2 and chapter 3.Positive aesthetics has been always faced with the legitimacy from the beginning of its birth.In order to solve this problem,some supporters provide various kinds of arguments from different approaches.This paper summarizes important eight kind of arguments:(1)The scientific cognitivism argument,whose main supporters are Allen Carlson and Glen Parsons,maintains that the scientific knowledge considers the aesthetic goodness,thus all nature is aesthetically good if nature is appreciated according to the correct categories provided by scientific knowledge.(2)Theism argumentation,whose main supporters are Kenneth Simonsen,Nelson Potter and Eugene Hargrove,maintains that nature is created by God and God is all-knowing,all-powerful,all-good and all-beautiful,so that all nature is beautiful.(3)Environmental ethics argument,whose supporter is Holms Rolston,maintains that natural ecosystems can transform ugliness into beauty,so that all natural landscapes and ecosystems are beautiful.(4)Functionalism argument,whose main supporters are Allen Carlson and Glen Parsons,maintains that positive aesthetics is only applied in inorganic nature rather than organic nature if we appreciate nature according to the functionalism approach.(5)Nonaesthetic argument,whose main supporters are Don Mannison and Robert Elliot,maintains that aesthetic judgment is just applied to artifacts rather than nature,so that we should not make any negative judgment to nature,thus nature is beautiful.(6)Aesthetics argument maintains that aesthetic appreciation is without any concepts or categories,and the presentation of things themselves is beauty,natural objects is easier to present themselves than artifacts,thus all nature is beautiful as we appreciate nature in terms of aesthetic approach.(7)Sublime argument oriented from Burk and Kant,whose main supporters are Kenneth Simonsen and Holms Rolston,maintains that sublime as an important aesthetic category can transform negative aesthetic experience about nature into positive aesthetic experience,thus provide a kind of argument for positive aesthetics.(8)Ecological aesthetics argument wants to provide a kind of cultural philosophical argument,which is aimed to reflect and critique culture evil,according to a dichotomy of "civilization-culture evil".The third key point is some debates about positive aesthetics,which is the main content of chapter 4.Many Western and Chinese scholars query and disapprove positive aesthetics.Yuriko Saito is ambiguous about positive aesthetics:on the one hand,Yuriko Saito argues that no matter from the fact or form the ethics positive aesthetics is not reasonable;on the other hand,Yuriko Saito puts forwards"appreciating nature on its own terms" and "the unscenic nature aesthetics",thus in fact promotes the development of positive aesthetics.Malcolm Budd generally objects positive aesthetics,queries the arguments of positive aesthetics,argues that positive aesthetics is false.However,Budd and positive aesthetics aim to the same target of natural aesthetic appreciation which is appreciating nature as nature.They are just different in the aesthetic appreciation aspects.Positive aesthetics argues that nature itself can be appreciated under the correct scientific categories;while Budd argues that only in free and relative way can nature itself be appreciated.Emily Brady definitely objects positive aesthetics and put forward negative aesthetics about nature,arguing ugliness is not only real in nature but also necessary to nature and we can not eliminate natural ugliness.But Brady’s hostility to positive aesthetics is tempered in practice,arguing that positive aesthetics is helpful to environmentalism.In addition,some Chinese scholars also seriously doubt positive aesthetics,and strongly objects positive aesthetics and its core proposition which is that all nature is beautiful.The four key point is exploring the contribution of positive aesthetics to Chinese ecoaesthetics and explaining the theoretical significance and value of positive aesthetics,which is the main content of chapter 5.Synthesizing various versions of Positive Aesthetics,we can find that there is rich ecological aesthetics connotation about positive aesthetics.Firstly,positive aesthetics suggests appreciating nature as what it is,emphasizes the appropriate appreciation of nature,advocates appreciating nature under the guidance of scientific knowledge,especially ecological knowledge,so as to transform traditional appreciation of nature into ecologically aesthetic appreciation of nature.Secondly,positive aesthetics requires appreciators to promote aesthetic capacity,so that they can feel the virtue of creating lives of natural ecological system by means of a kind of deep aesthetic sensibilities,so as to transform non-ecologically aesthetic appreciation into ecologically aesthetic appreciation.Thirdly,positive aesthetics opposes the picturesque theory,respects the intrinsic value of natural objects,and admits that natural objects are inherently beautiful,so that positive aesthetics is anti-anthropocentrism in line with the ethical appeal of ecological aesthetics.Fourthly,positive aesthetics and its core proposition which is that all natural world is beautiful provide a solid aesthetic foundation for contemporary environmentalism,which is consistent with the practical appeal of ecological aesthetics.This chapter explains the theoretical significance and value of positive aesthetics by virtue of exploring the ecological aesthetics connotation of positive aesthetics from the perspectives of aesthetic appreciative appropriateness,aesthetic capacity of the aesthetic subjects,the ethical appeal and the practical appeal of natural appreciation.At the same time,we can integrate positive aesthetics into the construction of ecological,aesthetics,and make positive aesthetics become the organic component of ecological aesthetics,and promote the development of ecological aesthetics.