ENVIRONMENTAL AESTHETICS

This course is part of the Environmental Humanities minor that any student enrolled to a bachelor’s degree program at Ca’ Foscari can attend.
Since the XVIII century, Western philosophers have debated how it is that we find certain natural objects beautiful or sublime – a kind of experience that is called ‘aesthetic’. The aesthetics of nature is thus a traditional area of research for humanities scholars interested in the environment. This course shall introduce students to some of the main contemporary theories concerning the aesthetic experience of nature and the role aesthetics can play in tackling environmental issues.
The course offers some tools to understand the relevance of the aesthetic experience of nature for human beings and identify cases of interaction with the environment where aesthetic values play a role in guiding our actions.

Students who shall successfully complete the course shall gain knowledge about some key theories of the aesthetic experience of nature and philosophical discussion of the role of aesthetics in tackling environmental issues.
They shall improve their argumentative skills and strengthen their power of logical thinking by learning how to identify and assess the main arguments put forward in contemporary philosophical texts, and how to apply philosophical arguments to the analysis of case-studies.
Finally, they shall strengthen their communication skills by training in how to write a short paper or handout where a philosophical thesis is put forward, how to defend it through oral discussion, and how to illustrate a variety of philosophical views through oral discussion.

The course has no specific prerequisites. An interest in argument analysis and in the aesthetic experience of nature is desirable.

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that studies the kind of experience we have when we find something beautiful or sublime, for instance. Aesthetics also studies the objects of those experiences: natural objects figure prominently among them. Think of how many times you have found a seaside landscape beautiful, or the view from the top of a mountain sublime. This course shall introduce you to contemporary debates concerning the aesthetic experience of natural objects and the environment.
In the first place, we shall consider how certain knowledges and abilities are involved when we appreciate aesthetically natural objects (such as flowers) and environments (such as forests): knowledges about natural objects and human practices revolving around them, and abilities such as those of feeling certain emotions, entertaining certain imaginings, and interacting with nature in specific ways.
In the second place, we shall consider how and in how far aesthetic experiences of nature might play a role in tackling issues of ecological sustainability. On the one hand, the aesthetic value we find in some natural objects (beautiful landscapes, for instance) can motivate us to take care of them. On the other hand, certain aesthetic interactions with the environment (some forms of gardening, for instance) can be good examples of sustainable attitudes that we might want to implement.

A mandatory reading list shall be announced at the beginning of the course.

Oral and written exam.
Students are required to:
1) Orally discuss the texts included in the course’s mandatory reading list;
2) Write a 1000 words paper or handout, concerning a specific topic tackled during the course, and discuss it orally.

Lectures, discussions, and assignments, with a focus on textual analysis, argument reconstruction, discussion of case-studies, and peer-to-peer instruction.

All students should log into the course’s Moodle webpage and regularly check the documents that the teacher will upload on that page.

Students who cannot attend the lectures are warmly invited to contact the teacher by sending an email to: elisa.caldarola@unive.it

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion
Ca' Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices at your earliest convenience: inclusione@unive.it.
Website: www.unive.it/inclusione

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Climate change and energy" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development