taylor edmund february 13, 2011 phil 450 prof. hettinger on being moved by nature: between religion...
TRANSCRIPT
Taylor Edmund February
13, 2011PHIL 450 Prof.
Hettinger
On being moved by nature:
between religion and natural historyNoël Carroll
IntroductionFocuses much of his writing on Allen Carlson
Establishes Carlson’s view about the appreciation of nature
Explains Carlson’s framework for his viewpoints
Proposes his concerns with Carlson’s models
Illustrates his preliminary arguments
Science By Elimination
Carroll explains and presents his problems with each of Carlson’s models for appreciating nature.
Object Paradigm
Landscape or Scenery Model
Environmental Paradigm
Carroll deciphers and raises questions against Carlson’s arguments.
The Object Paradigm
Guides our attention to certain aspects of nature
Frames on nature are either insensitive or inoperable
Missing the whole landscape picture with frames
Missing the experience of being “amidst” Nature
The Landscape or Scenery Model
Nature as a landscape painting
Fine art as a precedent
Still missing the actual beauty in nature
Environmental Paradigm
Nature as Nature
Natural expanses
Includes all natural forces
This guides us to the “appropriate foci” of aesthetic significance
Knowledge about science, natural history, and common sense
Science by Elimination Conclusion
Wants to make a connection between the guidance to natural appreciation and the guidance to art appreciation.
Rejects both, the object paradigm and the scenery paradigm
So if not this, or this, then it only leaves science so that must be the answer.
Carroll On Science by Elimination
Thinks both theories can co-exist
Appreciation does not require knowledge
Involves our sense experience
The Arousal Model, operative cognitions, and rooted in the commonsense knowledge
The Claims of Objectivist
Epistemology Some aesthetic judgements of nature are objective
Explanation of the Categories of Art theory
Not helpful when it comes to nature
Appropriate or Inappropriate emotions
If all things are equal....
“Wrong Class Comparison”
Depth of an Aesthetic Appreciation
Carroll on Objectivist Epistemology
Appreciation without accurate knowledge
Emotionally moved by things relative to ourselves
Being moved by nature satisfies Carlson’s epistemological challenge
What makes responses shallow or deep is not clear
Equally as important as scientific appreciation and natural history
Order Appreciation
Design Appreciation
Order Appreciation
Design Appreciation doesn’t work for nature appreciation
Religious sentiment
Carroll on Order Appreciation
Not design or order appreciation, not guided by art history or natural history
Requisites for natural appreciation?
Still closing off types of appreciation
Appreciation because of survival instinct?
Should not be viewed as a religious response
Summary
Carlson closes off different kinds of appreciation according to Carroll
Carroll believes we can be emotionally moved by nature
Appreciation does not require knowledge or correct information
This form should co-exsist with Carlson’s
Questions for Discussion
What would he say about everyday appreciations of nature?
Are we drawn in to focus on things we lack?
Do we grow to appreciate things once we are not surrounded by them? (i.e. the feeling of coming home)
Works Cited
Kemal, Salim, and Ivan Gaskell. Landscape, Natural Beauty and the Arts. Cambridge [England: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print.