Analysis of the 6th Chapter of The Aesthetics of the Natural Environments - Essay Example

Appreciating landscapes may involve purely sensory layers such as sight, sound and smell. Rely do this layers exist alone. Whenever we look at a landscape we seek out formal relationships which include conceptualizing and recognizing and adding context and background including many more. Metaphysical imagination is a concept used to explain the aspects of nature for which there are no clear concepts and exact words to use. This in essence means that landscapes reveal and conceal much more beauty than what we see, meaning it has much more to offer.

The aesthetic experience of nature includes a diverse range of components from the basic ones like rocks and stones, to the bigger components which ultimately is the world as whole. This chapter aims at clarifying five principal components that deal with landscape and metaphysics namely; 1) Brings out the concept of metaphysical imagination and its relation to aesthetic experience of nature Metaphysical imagination essentially relates to how we interpret a scene in nature in relation to the whole world experience .

It fuses present experience from landscapes and sensory components, but not mediation that a landscape arouses. Nature presents itself more for sustainability than for enjoyment. Hepburn argues that we should experience nature as it is rather than how we want to perceive it. According to him we respond to features to which nature presents. The author differentiates between human attitudes and appreciation towards art and towards appreciation of the aesthetic value of nature. Artists have a tendency of including technological advancements to their work, even the ones that deal with nature and we appreciate it.

However when we interfere with nature using technology we tend to appreciate it less, compared to if less invasion of technology. He therefore argues that the way we appreciate nature is the way we should appreciate the beauty of art. 2) The author argues that philosophers sometimes undervalue metaphysical imagination. This he argues happens because of several reasons, one of them being the fact that they want to maintain how they engage aesthetically with nature free from expenses which lack rational support for example religious experiences, which cannot be determined and whose description fails on distinct reference.

Philosophers who undervalue metaphysical imagination do not want metaphysics to be used in experiencing metaphysics. The other reason why metaphysical imagination can be undervalued is because the experiences derived from landscapes can only be eluded by the person who experienced them. He encourages recognition of the endless variety of aesthetic experiences for example if pantheists or atheist view is replaced by metaphysics view, then metaphysical ideologies such as materialism will increase.

On the other hand scientific evidence should not surplus all other aesthetic appreciation of nature. Science cannot oust metaphysics. This is despite the fact that metaphysics mainly works on speculative and incomplete evidence. Science on the other hand works with evidence; hence it ends up looking at the world selectively and therefore ends up eliminating human concerns, which form part of nature. Human perspective in appreciating of aesthetic component of nature cannot be downplayed. Science or any other method alone cannot be used to value metaphysical imagination. 3) On the other hand we tend to over value or exaggerate metaphysical