Contents Acknowledgements Preface Introduction PART ONE: GROUNDING THE WORLD Chapter 1: Beginning Chapter 2: Understanding the Aesthetic Chapter 3: The Aesthetic Argument Chapter 4: The World as Experienced PART TWO: AESTHETICS AND THE HUMAN WORLD Chapter 5: A Rose by Any Other Name Chapter 6: The Soft Side of Stone Chapter 7: An Aesthetics of Urbanism Chapter 8: Celestial Aesthetics PART THREE: SOCIAL AESTHETICS Chapter 9: The Negative Aesthetics of Everyday Life Chapter 10: Art, Terrorism and the Negative Sublime Chapter 11: Perceptual Politics Chapter 12: The Aesthetics of Politics Sensibility and Sense TheAestheticTransformation oftheHuman World ArnoldBerleant imprint-academic.com Copyright © Arnold Berleant, 2010 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted. No part of any contribution may be reproduced in any form without permission, except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism and discussion. Originally published in the UK by Imprint Academic, PO Box 200, Exeter EX5 5YX, UK Originally published in the USA by Imprint Academic, Philosophy Documentation Center PO Box 7147, Charlottesville, VA 22906-7147, USA Digital edition converted and distributed in 2011 by Andrews UK Limited www.andrewsuk.com Cover Photograph: St Salvator’s Quadrangle, St Andrews by Peter Adamson from the University of St Andrews collection ForR.B. inappreciation “HaveyoubeenlatelyinSussex?”saidElinor. “IwasatNorlandaboutamonthago.” “Andhowdoesdear,dearNorlandlook?”criedMarianne. “Dear,dearNorland”,saidElinor,“probablylooksmuch asitalwaysdoesatthistimeofyear. Thewoodsandwalks thicklycoveredwithdeadleaves.” “Oh!”criedMarianne,“withwhattransportingsensations haveIformerlyseenthemfall! HowhaveIdelighted,asI walked, to see them driven in showers about me by the wind! What feeling have they, the season, the air alto- getherinspired! Nowthereisnoonetoregardthem. They areseenonlyasanuisance,swepthastilyoff,anddrivenas muchaspossiblefromthesight.” “Itisnoteveryone,”saidElinor,“whohasyourpassionfor deadleaves.” JaneAusten,SenseandSensibility Acknowledgements Chapter Five, “A Rose by Any Other Name”, has been adapted from Filozofski Vestnic, Vol. XXVIII, No. 2 (Ljublijana,Slovenia,2007),pp.151–68.Usedbypermission. Anearlier,brieferversionofChapterSix,“TheSoftSide ofStone”,wasfirstpresentedattheConferenceontheAes- theticsofStoneandRock,14 June2007, Koli,Finland and hasbeenpublishedinaFinnishtranslation.Alsoreprinted inEnvironmentalPhilosophy,Vol4,Nos.1&2(Spring&Fall, 2007). AnearlierversionofChapterSeven,“AestheticEngage- ment and Urban Ecology”, was presented at the interna- tionalconferenceonEnvironment,AestheticEngagement,and thePublicSphere,Paris,9May2007.TranslatedintoChinese and reprinted under the title, “Aesthetic Ecology and the UrbanEnvironment”inAcademicMonthly,Vol.3,2008. ChapterEight,“CelestialAesthetics”,isadaptedfroma presentation originally written for “Celestial Aesthetics: TheAestheticsofSky,SpaceandHeaven”,the7thInterna- tional Conference on Environmental Aesthetics and pre- sentedinHeinävesi,Finlandon28March2009. An early version of Chapter Nine, “The Negative Aes- thetics of Everyday Life”, was presented at Everyday Aes- thetics, VIII International Summer School of the InternationalInstituteofAppliedAesthetics,Lahti,Finland on17June2008. ChapterTen,“TerrorismandtheNegativeSublime”,was presentedasthekeynoteaddressattheinternationalconfer- enceonArtsandTerroratOhioUniversityon16May2009. Preface Thehappysuggestionofwritingabookthatwouldpursue theaestheticintotheregionsofsocialphilosophywasfortu- itous,foritbecametheincentivetofollowmoredeliberately thedirectionthatmyworkonenvironmentalaestheticshad already beguntotake.Thiswastoincorporatemorefully thehumanfactorinanyaestheticconsiderationofenviron- ment,anditledmeinaseriesofessaysgraduallytoidentify whatIcalled“socialaesthetics”.Itispersonallygratifying thatcircumstanceandinterestcombinedtobringtogether inthisbooktheearliestandmostrecentofmyphilosophical interests,formyteachingbegannearlyhalfacenturyagoin the area of social philosophy. Indeed, my very first book-lengtheffortwasananthologyofreadingsIcompiled withacolleaguetouseinsuchacourse.Thereisthusapar- ticular satisfaction in the intellectual symmetry this book represents. Placingtheaestheticattheheartoftheseinquirieswasnot myoriginalplan.AsIpursuedtheissues,theprimacyofaes- theticperceptionemergedattheircenter.1Whatsuchpercep- tionconsistsinandwhatitimplieswillbecomeclearinthe pagesthatfollow.Ihopethattheymayconveytoothersthe illuminationIhavegainedfromthepursuitofalifetime. Thisbookowesitsexistencetothecontributionsofmany. It was John Haldane who first proposed that I undertake [1] IamremindedofEdmundBurke’sperspicaciousobservation,“…let thevirtueofadefinitionbewhatitwill,intheorderofthings,itseems rathertofollowthantoprecedeourenquiry,ofwhichitoughttobe consideredastheresult.”APhilosophicalEnquiryintotheOriginofour IdeasoftheSublimeandBeautiful,2ndedn.(1759)(OxfordUniversity Press,1990),p.12. 2 Sensibility and Sense suchaproject,andIamgratefultohimfortheincentiveto pursueacoursethatwouldturnouttobesopersonallyful- filling. I have found ironical satisfaction in achieving a senseofcompletionfromworkthatinmethodandcontent mustremainincomplete.IamalsogratefultoJohnforhis carefulreadingofChaptersOnetoFourthathelpedground my imaginative excesses. Special thanks are due Larry Shiner,whosecarefulattentiontothosefourchaptersalso assistedgreatlyinshapingthem. YurikoSaito,myco-editorandmainstayatContemporary Aesthetics, has given unfailing supporttoour jointefforts, makingitpossibleformetopursuethisproject.Herintel- lectualcompanionshipandencouragementhaveprovided greatandconstantsatisfaction.YrjöSepänmaaencouraged my deliberations on environmental aesthetics from their beginning,andourfriendshipovermanyyearshasinvari- ablybeenstimulating.Iamgrateful,too,fortheinterestin myworkoverthepasttwodecadesbymymanyotherFinn- ish colleagues and friends. The more recent enthusiasm of myChinesecolleagueshasbeenbothgratifyingandstimu- lating.ThewarminterestofChengXiangzhan,inparticular, continuestoinfusespiritintomyefforts. Manyotherfriendsandcolleagueshaveofferedmewis- domandencouragement,andtheirfriendlycommentsare reflected in my thinking. I am grateful to Henry Braun, whoseopeningpoemsoperfectlyencapsulatesthisbook’s recurrent theme. With Katya Mandoki I have discovered deepintellectualsympathyandhaveenjoyedmanystimu- latingexchanges.Ihavelongbenefittedfromthelucid,sub- tle wisdom of Ken-ichi Sasaki. I appreciate Anthony Freeman’s forbearance with my delays and changes and LynnieDallRamsdell’spatientassistanceinpreparingthe manuscript.Onedebtofgratitudeisimmeasurable:itisto mywifeandintellectualcompanion,RivaBerleant,whose learning,literacy,andtechnicalskillsarereflectedthrough- outthisbook.Myappreciationforhermarkandjudgment exceedsallwords. ArnoldBerleant Castine,Maine,U.S.A. Introduction Thefunctionoftheoryisnotonlytounderstand,butalsoto criticize, i.e. to call into question and overturn a reality, social relationships, therelationshipsofmenwiththings andothermen,whichareclearlyintolerable.AndasfarasI am concerned, that is the dimension of politics (Jean-FrançoisLyotard,Driftworks). Assigning central importance to the aesthetic in human experiencemayseemtobearadicalinversion,placingwhat isusuallyconsideredsecondaryandperipheralatthecen- terofthehumanworldasitsnourishingsource.Isn’tthisan ingenuoussimplificationofthevastrangeandcomplexity ofexperience? Whatisatissue here,however,isnotthetruthofstate- mentbutthetruthofexperience.Thequestionis,howcan webestcharacterizenormativeexperienceinourapprecia- tiveengagementintheartsand,morewidely,inthehuman worldofeventsandactions?Manyforcesworktoimpede our understanding, most prominently in the form of cul- tural habits and practices and intellectual traditions. We nowrecognizehowdifficult,indeedimpossibleitistocome to inquiry with a clean slate. Conscious understanding is already deeply inscribed with axiomatic premises: that experienceisessentiallysubjective;thatitisthecomposite ofdifferent,separatefactors;and,perhapsmostofall,thatit isprimarilycognitive. Itmaybeboldtotakeissuewiththeseculturalpietiesbut Iproposetotry.Idothis,notfromsimpleiconoclasmbutin theinterestsofattemptingaclearerunderstandingandso, perhaps,gainingtruerexperience.Thereismuchtobesaid foraviewthataccordswithlivedexperience.Thus,while