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‘Atmosphere’ as a Core Concept of Eco-aesthetics

  • Zhuofei Wang
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Aesthetics Today
This chapter is in the book Aesthetics Today

Abstract

As a contemporary form of aesthetics of nature, Eco-aesthetics originates from the Chinese environment-ethical debate and is dedicated to an aesthetic revision of the split between humans and nature in the process of modernization. Starting from the criticism that the current eco-aesthetic research is usually limited to a taste evaluation of natural beauty and that many studies pay little attention to practically reconstructing a new harmony between humans and nature under contemporary conditions, the article focuses on the following issue: a) To what extent can the approach of Eco-aesthetics be theoretically reformulated so that the perspective of traditional aesthetics of judgment, predominantly fixed on the experience and reflection of natural beauty, can be avoided? b) How can this reformulation contribute to recultivating and renaturing an environment in a widely urbanized world? Here the concept of “atmosphere” which has been primarily developed by contemporary German philosophers emphasizes the interaction between bodily perception and the qualities of the surrounding environment are of particular significance for solving these issues. It is demonstrated that in atmospheric experiences the body embeds man, together with his multifarious ways of perception and sense experiences, into nature so that man and nature are interrelated with each other and merged into a unified whole. The eco-aesthetic meaning here transcends the framework of the beauty of nature and is characterized by an infinite range of perceptual possibilities towards the integration of the human situation and the environmental conditions. At the same time, the investigation of the conditions and forms of atmospheric creation will contribute to further extending the eco-aesthetic vision to the practical area. And it is not least this practical dimension that distinguishes the Eco-aesthetics from traditional aesthetic approaches to nature.

Abstract

As a contemporary form of aesthetics of nature, Eco-aesthetics originates from the Chinese environment-ethical debate and is dedicated to an aesthetic revision of the split between humans and nature in the process of modernization. Starting from the criticism that the current eco-aesthetic research is usually limited to a taste evaluation of natural beauty and that many studies pay little attention to practically reconstructing a new harmony between humans and nature under contemporary conditions, the article focuses on the following issue: a) To what extent can the approach of Eco-aesthetics be theoretically reformulated so that the perspective of traditional aesthetics of judgment, predominantly fixed on the experience and reflection of natural beauty, can be avoided? b) How can this reformulation contribute to recultivating and renaturing an environment in a widely urbanized world? Here the concept of “atmosphere” which has been primarily developed by contemporary German philosophers emphasizes the interaction between bodily perception and the qualities of the surrounding environment are of particular significance for solving these issues. It is demonstrated that in atmospheric experiences the body embeds man, together with his multifarious ways of perception and sense experiences, into nature so that man and nature are interrelated with each other and merged into a unified whole. The eco-aesthetic meaning here transcends the framework of the beauty of nature and is characterized by an infinite range of perceptual possibilities towards the integration of the human situation and the environmental conditions. At the same time, the investigation of the conditions and forms of atmospheric creation will contribute to further extending the eco-aesthetic vision to the practical area. And it is not least this practical dimension that distinguishes the Eco-aesthetics from traditional aesthetic approaches to nature.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Table of Contents VII
  4. Aesthetics of Nature and Ecoaesthetics
  5. On Natural Resonance 3
  6. “Be Free as I Am” Schiller’s Aesthetics as a Challenge to the Modern Way of Thinking 21
  7. ‘Atmosphere’ as a Core Concept of Eco-aesthetics 35
  8. Singing (in Several Voices) in the (Same) Rain. Cultural Symbols and Cognition in the Aesthetics of Weather 51
  9. Aesthetics and the Theory of Arts
  10. Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Art-Philosophy So Boring and Art-Criticism So Different, So Much More Appealing 71
  11. On Judging Art 87
  12. Artist versus Aesthete 95
  13. What Is the Philosophy of Poetry? 109
  14. On the Very Idea of Understanding Music 127
  15. The Limit as Aesthetic Demonstration 139
  16. Difficulties in Reading Images: Diversity and Internationality in Image Reception 153
  17. Frame and Framing. On the Parergonal Constitution of Artistic Representation 165
  18. Focusing the Blind Spot. On the Inventive Use of Signs in Art 181
  19. Trust in the World. Going to the Movies with Cavell, Wittgenstein, and Some Prior Philosophers 193
  20. Walton’s “Vivacity” and Cinematic Realism 207
  21. Anpassungsprobleme. Die Kunst und das Lehramt 219
  22. Wittgenstein und die Methodik der Kunstwissenschaft – Am Beispiel der Ikonik Max Imdahls 233
  23. Wittgenstein und Weltdesign 247
  24. Wittgenstein and the Arts
  25. Zum Umgang mit dem Werk Wittgensteins in der Kunst 261
  26. Wittgenstein and the Avant-garde 281
  27. What Makes Brahms Kellerian? 297
  28. Rechnen und Zeichnen – Klee und Wittgenstein 309
  29. “Wahlverwandtschaft”: Literary and Philosophical Imagination in Wittgenstein and Sterne 319
  30. Wittgenstein, Ethics and Aesthetics
  31. Wittgenstein’s Comparison between Philosophy, Aesthetics and Ethics 333
  32. Absolute and Relative Value in Aesthetics 349
  33. Bemerkungen zum Begriff der „Wende“. Ethische und ästhetische Aspekte der Schriften des philosophischen Nachlasses Ludwig Wittgensteins 365
  34. Die Ethik des frühen Wittgenstein – Eine Annäherung aus kantischer Perspektive 387
  35. Ästhetischer Diskurs und ethische Urteile 407
  36. Wittgenstein
  37. Wittgenstein’s Performance Philosophy 419
  38. The Idea of Compositionality 435
  39. Wittgenstein and Hegel on Bodies, Souls and Works of Art 449
  40. Index of Authors 467
  41. Index of Subjects 473
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110540413-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Table of Contents VII
  4. Aesthetics of Nature and Ecoaesthetics
  5. On Natural Resonance 3
  6. “Be Free as I Am” Schiller’s Aesthetics as a Challenge to the Modern Way of Thinking 21
  7. ‘Atmosphere’ as a Core Concept of Eco-aesthetics 35
  8. Singing (in Several Voices) in the (Same) Rain. Cultural Symbols and Cognition in the Aesthetics of Weather 51
  9. Aesthetics and the Theory of Arts
  10. Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Art-Philosophy So Boring and Art-Criticism So Different, So Much More Appealing 71
  11. On Judging Art 87
  12. Artist versus Aesthete 95
  13. What Is the Philosophy of Poetry? 109
  14. On the Very Idea of Understanding Music 127
  15. The Limit as Aesthetic Demonstration 139
  16. Difficulties in Reading Images: Diversity and Internationality in Image Reception 153
  17. Frame and Framing. On the Parergonal Constitution of Artistic Representation 165
  18. Focusing the Blind Spot. On the Inventive Use of Signs in Art 181
  19. Trust in the World. Going to the Movies with Cavell, Wittgenstein, and Some Prior Philosophers 193
  20. Walton’s “Vivacity” and Cinematic Realism 207
  21. Anpassungsprobleme. Die Kunst und das Lehramt 219
  22. Wittgenstein und die Methodik der Kunstwissenschaft – Am Beispiel der Ikonik Max Imdahls 233
  23. Wittgenstein und Weltdesign 247
  24. Wittgenstein and the Arts
  25. Zum Umgang mit dem Werk Wittgensteins in der Kunst 261
  26. Wittgenstein and the Avant-garde 281
  27. What Makes Brahms Kellerian? 297
  28. Rechnen und Zeichnen – Klee und Wittgenstein 309
  29. “Wahlverwandtschaft”: Literary and Philosophical Imagination in Wittgenstein and Sterne 319
  30. Wittgenstein, Ethics and Aesthetics
  31. Wittgenstein’s Comparison between Philosophy, Aesthetics and Ethics 333
  32. Absolute and Relative Value in Aesthetics 349
  33. Bemerkungen zum Begriff der „Wende“. Ethische und ästhetische Aspekte der Schriften des philosophischen Nachlasses Ludwig Wittgensteins 365
  34. Die Ethik des frühen Wittgenstein – Eine Annäherung aus kantischer Perspektive 387
  35. Ästhetischer Diskurs und ethische Urteile 407
  36. Wittgenstein
  37. Wittgenstein’s Performance Philosophy 419
  38. The Idea of Compositionality 435
  39. Wittgenstein and Hegel on Bodies, Souls and Works of Art 449
  40. Index of Authors 467
  41. Index of Subjects 473
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