Routledge Handbook of Nature and Environmental Aesthetics

This handbook provides the first comprehensive overview of philosophical thinking about the aesthetics of the natural and human-made environments, exploring the topic’s foundations, key ideas, and current debates.

Throughout history and across cultures, people’s perceptions of beauty and ugliness in their surroundings have been an important part of the human experience. This volume contains more than 30 contributions from leading scholars examining environmental appreciation from a variety of perspectives. Chapters cover a wide range of environments and issues, including the aesthetics of animals, natural sounds, gardens, the urban environment, and the relation between aesthetics and environmentalism. It also explores new topics such as the appreciation of nature in ancient thought, love of place, the traditional nature aesthetics of China and Japan, and the aesthetics of climate change.

The Routledge Handbook of Nature and Environmental Aesthetics will be essential reading for students and scholars working on the aesthetics of environment, as well as anyone who wants to think deeply about environmental beauty. Scholars working in related fields outside academic philosophy, such as geography, landscape studies, environmental psychology, and environmental studies will also find it an invaluable guide to contemporary debates.

Glenn Parsons is Professor of Philosophy at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he writes on the aesthetics of nature, design, and human beauty. He is the author of Functional Beauty (with Allen Carlson, Oxford 2008), The Philosophy of Design (Polity 2015), and Aesthetics & Nature (Bloomsbury 2024).

Ned Hettinger is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the College of Charleston. His specialization is environmental philosophy, including environmental ethics, environmental aesthetics, and animal ethics. His papers have appeared in Philosophy and Public Affairs, Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, Environmental Ethics, Environmental Values, and the Journal of Aesthetic Education.

Sandra Shapshay is Professor of Philosophy at CUNY. Co-editor of the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, her research focuses on intersections of aesthetics, ethics, and politics. Publications include: ＂What is the Monumental?＂ JAAC (2021), and ＂A Two-Tiered Theory of the Sublime＂ BJA (2021).