The Beauty of Environment: A General Model for Environmental Aesthetics Page: 27
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II. IN THE CORE AREAS
The core areas of environmental aesthetics are a question of the aesthetic object, and a question of
how that object is spoken about in criticism. Accordingly I have divided the treatment into two
parts: (1) ontology and (2) metacriticism. Art is the point of reference for the environment in the
former, whereas art criticism is the point of reference for environmental criticism in the latter.
First of all comes the object, natural or man-made, ready delimited or delimited by a decision. In
dealing with the aesthetic objects of the environment they must be placed in relation to other
aesthetic objects; these are fictitious objects, and they are above all works of art. In my examination
the emphasis is on works of art, on the demonstration of similarities and differences through
comparison. From the point of view of my conception of the environment the mental environment
is a marginal environmental form. In this sphere especial reference is made to rational beauty, to
such conceptual structures as scientific systems. The various meanings of beauty - those that
concern skill, action, intelligence, and morals - in the final resort belong together on the level of
life values; an aesthetic quality based on the synthetical nature of values is formed as a result of
'aestheticization', in which the genuine aesthetic values are one component.
The object always involves discourse on the object. By discourse in a broad sense I mean all
comments concerning the object, be it in description, interpretation, or evaluation. The investi-
gation of the language used is the metacritical side of environmental aesthetics.
In my opinion, questions of environmental aesthetics can be included in these two: the object and
the speech concerning it. Thus the question is not in fact about a core area but about the whole area.
A. Ontology
The environment as an aesthetic object - its essential features and relation to other
aesthetic objects
1. Environmental aesthetics as a part of environmental philosophy
Environmental philosophy is that part of philosophy which deals with questions of principle and
theory connected with environmental research. Thus its sphere includes the philosophy of the
natural sciences - the sciences that treat the environment as a mechanism - as well as the
philosophy of the cultural and social sciences (the 'human sciences'), in which the relation of Man
to the social milieu is dealt with. The human sciences are then to be conceived of as broadly as
possible, in such a way that they embrace everything where there is a question of the relationship
between Man and his environment: aesthetics, ethics, psychology, sociology.
Environmental philosophy is in itself an extensive and indefinite entity. On one hand its
sub-areas are bound to specialized sciences, on the other they are mutually connected. Thus, for
example, environmental aesthetics is dependent not only on the results obtained from the various
aspects of environmental research, but also on work done in the other areas of environmental
philosophy.
The general philosophical frame is natural and cultural philosophy. We do not, of course, treat
the environment only as an aesthetic object, but generally as an object of moral or practical
consideration. Thus, it is a question of what kind of object the environment is in its entirety, and
into what kinds of objects it divides. In the same way, questions on the general level are concerned27
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Sepänmaa, Yrjö. The Beauty of Environment: A General Model for Environmental Aesthetics, book, 1993; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc52173/m1/45/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Center For Environmental Philosophy.