Allen Carlson's Aesthetics and the Environment (Routledge, 2000)

Carlson’s book Aesthetics and the Environment is a fascinating discussion of environmental aesthetics. The main focus, as the subtitle attests, is on aesthetic appreciation, primarily with regard to nature, but also comparatively with regard to art and architecture. The book is written in a smooth, pleasant style that will make it accessible to the environmentalists and to the general public. In each chapter, Carlson provides a nontechnical hook to interest the reader and then proceeds with a more technical discussion, in the context of the views of other scholars, that is nevertheless easy to follow. Because of this style, the book has an exploratory feel that will make it usable as a text on environmental aesthetics at various levels. Carlson does not have a deŽ nitive system that he is trying to defend. Rather he is working his way through a variety of issues and giving his best answer for the moment in each case. No doubt Carlson will eventually change his mind about some of the positions that he defends in the book, if he has not done so already. The book is divided into two parts. The Ž rst concerns the appreciation of nature, the second landscapes, art, and architecture. The second part on the surface appears to be a set of unrelated subjects, much like an anthology. Actually, however, the chapters are carefully ordered to promote the examination of speciŽ c themes. For example, a discussion of environmental works of art (earthworks) is followed by a chapter on Japanese gardens. The issue in the Ž rst chapter is whether earthworks are an aesthetic affront. The issue in the second is why Japanese gardens, which involve as much or more manipulation and domination of nature as earthworks, are considered to be in pleasant harmony with nature. These chapters are followed by a chapter on the aesthetics of agricultural landscapes, which are changing from the family farm to the corporate farm,