Ecoaesthetics: Environmental aesthetics and Kant's deduction

Abstract

This thesis is designed to develop an understanding of the problems, limitations and potential uses of Kant's aesthetic deduction. Motivated by an interest in environmental aesthetics, this thesis offers a critical analysis of Kantian aesthetics in order to expand upon the successes and failures of Kant's aesthetic deduction with particular consideration of the implications both of these have for the natural environment. I ask the following questions: firstly, why does Kant's deduction succeed or fail? Secondly, does Kantian aesthetics related to the deduction have a role in environmental aesthetics, and relatedly, in what ways do environmental considerations help deepen our understanding of Kantian aesthetics? I ask these questions in order to determine the success of Kant's aesthetic deduction and promote the importance of nuance in discussions concerning environmentalism and aesthetics. Through a process of exegesis and textual analysis, I demonstrate that, although Kant's aesthetic deduction serves as an excellent jumping-off point for broader environmental discussion, the Deduction itself fails to achieve its aims and even adds problematic dimensions to an ecoaesthetic approach in the case of the role of ugliness. Significantly, this research connects two elements of theory (Kantian aesthetics and ecoaesthetics) in order to understand both more profoundly. In deepening our understanding of these issues, the motivation for and promotion of environmentalism through ecoaesthetics will be more readily achievable in future research.