Natural Beauty and the Good Life: An International Workshop

Workshop Goals

The aim of this workshop is to investigate how experiences of natural beauty can contribute to the good life of people, that is, to discuss natural beauty’s potential eudaimonic meaning.

Consider the following examples. Encountering the diversity of other living beings and inanimate natural entities can be invigorating and inspire multiple reflections on one’s way of living. Think of cases as diverse as an old gnarled tree, embodying endurance, a flying bird, expressing freedom, or the flow of water, symbolizing strength and adaptability. Furthermore, many natural entities sensuously manifest the inseparability of life and transience. In presenting transience as a necessity, they can evoke hope for change as well as acceptance and consolation in the face of finitude. Think of ephemeral spring blossoms or falling autumn leaves. Moreover, dwelling on landscapes, consisting of a diversity of interconnected entities, can make one realize to be part of it all, to feel at home in the world, and not to walk the Earth as stranger. In some cases, typically sublime environments which embody the deep history of this shared world and the powers that run through it, this feeling can be accompanied by a sense of awe and humble reflections on our place in it. Finally, the varieties of natural entities – reaching from tiny beetles to the infinite starry sky – can invite existential wonder and the realization that being is a mystery and life a gift.

Though many people might agree with the claim that natural beauty’s complete destruction or unavailability would be an existential loss for humanity, few authors in philosophy have addressed natural beauty’s meaning for human flourishing. Taking seriously the significance of beauty, as it is currently investigated in the emerging subfield of existential aesthetics, the workshop’s goal is to improve our understanding of natural beauty’s eudaimonic potential and its irreplaceability. In doing so, the workshop highlights environmental aesthetics’ relevance in the field of environmental philosophy and nature conservation.

Confirmed Speakers

Emily Brady (Texas A&M University)

David E. Cooper (Durham University)

Yuriko Saito (Rhode Island School of Design)

Sandra Shapshay (Hunter College (CUNY))

Call for Papers

We invite submissions on any topic that relates to natural beauty’s meaning for the good life. Abstracts should not exceed 500 words and should be prepared for anonymous review. In a separate document, please send your contact details and a short 100-word biography. You can email your submissions as a PDF to Stephanie Schuster ([email protected]). The submission deadline is April 15, 2025. Communication of acceptance or rejection will be made by May 15, 2025.

A selection of the papers presented at the conference will be collected in a book or special issue through peer review.

Possible Topics

Relevant research questions include (but are not limited to):

• What does it mean for an experience of natural beauty to have eudaimonic meaning?
• In which ways can the experience of natural beauty contribute to the good life? What is its ethical, epistemic, and religious potential?
• How can existing philosophical work on the meaning of life be brought to bear on the study of natural beauty?
• How does natural beauty affect our relationship to the environing nature and human naturalness?
• Are there existential truths or insights that can particularly or only be found in the encounter of natural beauty?
• To what extent is the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty dependent on the appreciator’s attitude towards the natural world?
• Which works of Western and non-Western philosophy address natural beauty’s eudaimonic potential?
• Which works of art express particularly vividly natural beauty’s meaning for the good life?
• How is the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty affected by natural loss and climate change?
• Which role should the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty play in nature conservation and how does a better understanding of this potential strengthen the aesthetic argument for nature conservation?
• Should there be a human right to have access to natural beauty?
• How can a better understanding of the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty be integrated in aesthetic education?