From Beauty To Duty

The continuous progress of the human world has affected the healthy development of the natural world.Frequent natural disasters and the global ecological crisis have seriously threatened human survival and development.Therefore,people begin to consider how to balance the relationship between human and nature,and the concern for the natural environment and its protection is growing increasingly.As a unique geographical environment different from other regions,American wilderness has now become an essential part of American culture.John Muir,a representative of American nature writing in the nineteenth and twentieth century,left many writings about nature,which mainly describe the wilderness landscapes of western America.By applying positive aesthetics and participatory aesthetics in environmental aesthetics,this thesis attempts to study Muir’s aesthetics of wilderness through the interpretation of Muir’s series of nature writing.Discover beauty,and then protect it.Not only did Muir’s writings describe the beauty of wilderness,but they took the responsibility of wilderness protection as well,reflecting the aesthetics of wilderness,that is,from beauty to duty.Beauty of wilderness is mainly shown as the interpretation and appreciation of natural beauty.First of all,Muir mixes religion and science to interpret nature,including writing divine nature and understanding nature with the help of science.His subtle observation of nature has also promoted the progress of natural science.Then,Muir presents a disinterested aesthetic appreciation of the whole natural world.Transcending the aesthetic preference for picturesque nature,he appreciates nature on its own terms and explores nature’s positive aesthetic qualities with a positive attitude,and finally draws positive judgement.Duty of wilderness protection is discussed from two aspects: the renewal of wilderness concept and the practice of wilderness preservation.Muir vests wilderness with fresh and unique connotations,including the recognition of rights of wilderness and the advocacy of returning to wilderness.They are presented respectively as respect for natural things and reconciliation of human and nature.Besides,he explores the value of wilderness and makes a further discussion on the relationship between human and nature from three aspects: utility value,value of wildness,and aesthetic value,aiming to seek the theoretical foundation for wilderness protection.The last point is the practice of wilderness protection.Muir founded the Sierra Club,led the fight for defending Hetch Hetchy Valley and promoted the establishment of the national park system.To conclude,Muir’s writings represent the aesthetics of wilderness from beauty to duty,though he did not put forward any systematic theories of environmental aesthetics.This aesthetics of wilderness has not only tested and developed Transcendentalism in practice but also brought new development to the theory of environmental aesthetics with its extension of positive aesthetics and participatory aesthetics.Moreover,Muir’s aesthetics of wilderness will have some referential significance in dealing with nature and fighting against the global ecological crisis.