Moralism and Environmental Aesthetics

Moralism and Environmental Aesthetics
Paul Knights
PhD Seminar, University of Manchester, 11th November 2008

An exploration of a connection between aesthetics and environmental ethics
The development and analysis of the notion of an 'eco-friendly
aesthetic' (Lintott 2006)

An eco-friendly aesthetic
An aesthetic: the complete set of tastes, preferences, values,
attitudes and ideals of an aesthetic nature that determine what an
individual or community finds aesthetically pleasing, appealing,
attractive or valuable, and to be aesthetically displeasing,
unappealing, unattractive or of disvalue
Eco-friendliness: consistent with and respectful toward our ethical
obligations to natural environments and non-human organisms

Conditional 1
The notion of an eco-friendly aesthetic is coherent if it is the case
that humans possess ethical obligations to natural environments and
non-human organisms

Attitudinal and behavioural consequences of our aesthetic
Psychological claim: we develop affection and respect for, and are
motivated to protect or create, that which we find aesthetically
pleasing, and we typically lack affection and respect for, and are
motivated to transform or destroy, that which we find aesthetically
displeasing
Conceptual claim: "This is ugly, so prevent it" is almost as close to
being a tautology as is "This is morally bad, so do not do it"

Two domains of an eco-friendly aesthetic
1. The natural environment and nonhuman organisms
An eco-friendly aesthetic will be one that determines that an
individual or community finds natural environments and non-human
organisms aesthetically pleasing such that they are motivated to
protect and preserve them
2. Human artefacts
o An eco-friendly aesthetic will be one that determines that an
individual or community finds
human artefacts that are ethically meritorious with
regard to natural environments and non-human organisms
aesthetically pleasing
motivating
o the creation of human artefacts that are
ethically meritorious with regard to natural
environments and non-human organisms
o attempts to minimise environmental harm caused
by the creation, continuing existence,
maintenance and use of human artefacts
human artefacts that are ethically defective with regard
to nature aesthetically displeasing
motivating
o restraint from engaging in the creation of
human artefacts that are ethically defective
regarding nature
o the restoration of environmental damage caused
by the past creation, continuing existence,
maintenance and use of human artefacts

Conditional 2
The notion of an eco-friendly aesthetic is coherent if the position of
positive aesthetics is justifiable

Two kinds of eco-friendly aesthetic
Autonomist
o The aesthetic pleasure experienced at ethically meritorious
human artefacts, and the aesthetic displeasure experienced at
ethically defective artefacts, is not attributable to the
ethical defectiveness or meritoriousness of those artefacts
Moralist
o The aesthetic pleasure experienced at ethically meritorious
human artefacts, and the aesthetic displeasure experienced at
ethically defective artefacts, is attributable to the ethical
defectiveness or meritoriousness of those artefacts

Conditional 3
An eco-friendly aesthetic is coherent if the arguments for moderate
moralism are justifiable in the face of objections from radical and
moderate autonomists

Moderate moralism
An ethical defect or merit of an artwork sometimes counts as an
aesthetic defect or merit
o An ethical defect counts as an aesthetic defect when
it deters the response to which the work aspires
Ethical defects
o Artworks are ethically defective insofar as
they prescribe ethically defective responses
Aesthetic defects
o The failure of an artwork's form to function to
realise its points and purposes
Artistic form
The ensemble of formal choices
intended to realize the point or
purpose of the artwork
Formal choices
Elements and relations in the
artwork that are the intended means
to secure its points and purposes
Points and purposes
To advance a theme; to convey an
idea; to engender a certain sort of
experience, such as suspense
o An ethical merit counts as an aesthetic merit when
the parts of an artwork's form consisting of its moral
address serve its fundamental purpose of engaging and
absorbing audiences

Aesthetic endeavours
S is engaged in an aesthetic endeavour if S principally intends the
product, P, of the endeavour to primarily be the object of aesthetic
appreciation
o E.g. gardening, interior design, commercial design,
architecture, attention to personal appearance
Aesthetic defects and merits
Points or purposes
Form: formal design choices which may serve or
frustrate the points of purposes, i.e. aesthetic
merits or defects
Ethical defects and merits
1. The environmental harm or benefit of formal
choices
o Formal choices which are ethically defective
will deter the manifestation of the prescribed
response
o Formal choices which are ethically meritorious
will encourage the manifestation of the
prescribed response
2. The prescription of ethically defective or
meritorious responses
o The ethical defectiveness or meritoriousness of
the formal choices is pulled into the content
of the responses prescribed by the products of
aesthetic endeavours, thereby giving audiences
reasons to manifest/not manifest the prescribed
response



Non-aesthetic endeavours
S is engaged in a non-aesthetic endeavour if it is not S's principal
intention that the product, P, of the endeavour primarily be the
object of aesthetic appreciation
o Thin sense of appreciation
S finds an object, O, aesthetically pleasing in the thin
sense if S's aesthetic pleasure is derived from O's
physical appearance, including not only its surface
physical properties, but also its formal properties having
to do with its line, shape, and colour
o Thick sense of appreciation
S finds an object, O, aesthetically pleasing in the thick
sense if S's aesthetic pleasure is derived from O's
expressive qualities
Appropriate appreciation of functional artefacts
o 1. How well-designed they are to perform their functions
o 2. How necessary their functions are for achieving important
human goals
The bearing of the ethical value of artefacts on their expressive
qualities
o Insofar as the creation, continuing existence, maintenance and
use of an artefact is ethically defective with regard to the
natural world then that artefact will bear negative expressive
qualities, such as exploitation, carelessness and greed
o Insofar as an the creation, continuing existence, maintenance
and use of an artefact is ethically meritorious in this regard
it will bear positive expressive qualities, such as care,
responsibility and sustainability

The autonomist challenge
The thin sense of being aesthetically displeasing is sufficient to
explain why paradigms of environmental value/disvalue are paradigms of
aesthetic value/disvalue
o The moralist response
Elegant and illuminating explanation
Psychological claim: the relation between thin and thick
appreciation

Conclusion
A moralist eco-friendly aesthetic is an aesthetic that determines that
an individual or community finds
o (i) natural environments and non-human organisms aesthetically
pleasing
o (ii) human artefacts ethically defective with regard to natural
environments and non-human organisms aesthetically displeasing
o (iii) human artefacts ethically meritorious with regard to
natural environments and non-human organisms aesthetically
pleasing.
Four conditions that must be satisfied if the notion of a moralist eco-
friendly aesthetic is to prove coherent:
o (i) Humans have ethical obligations with regard to natural
environments and non-human organisms
o (ii) All natural environments and non-human organisms are
aesthetically good
o (iii) The (environmental) ethical status of human artefacts that
are the products of aesthetic endeavours may enter into their
aesthetic evaluation in the manner that the moderate moralist
argues it can with regard to artworks
I argued that (iii) may be satisfied by extending the
arguments of the moderate moralist
o (iv) The environmental ethical status of human artefacts that
are the products of non-aesthetic endeavours may enter into our
aesthetic appreciation of them in virtue of its role in the
expressive qualities possessed by such artefacts
I argued that (iv) may be satisfied by employing the
notion of the 'thick' sense of being aesthetically pleasing


Select Bibliography

Anderson, J. C. and J. T. Dean 1998. 'Moderate Autonomism', British Journal
of Aesthetics 38: 150-66.
Carlson, Allen 1984. 'Nature and Positive Aesthetics', Environmental
Aesthetics 6: 5-34.
Carlson, Allen 1985. 'Appreciating Agricultural Landscapes', Journal of
Aesthetics and Art Criticism 43: 301-12.
Carroll, Noël 1996. 'Moderate Moralism', British Journal of Aesthetics 36:
223-38.
Hettinger, Ned 2005. 'Allen Carlson's Environmental Aesthetics and the
Protection of the Environment', Environmental Ethics 27: 57-76.
Lintott, Sheila 2006. 'Toward Eco-Friendly Aesthetics', Environmental
Ethics 28: 57-76.