Beauty and the Anthropocene: A Case for How Experiences of Beautiful Places in Nature Can Contribute to Emancipation from Instrumental Rationality

Abstract

This article investigates, theoretically and empirically, the proposition that beauty—I consider experiences of beautiful places in the natural world in particular—can contribute to the emancipation of modern persons (and thereby developed societies) from instrumental rationality. The article begins by theorizing instrumental rationality as a major driver of the socioecological crises of the Anthropocene. After elucidating the effects of instrumental rationality through Horkheimer’s work, the article draws from Buber’s concept of the I–Thou relation to conceptualize ideal noninstrumental relations. It then draws from recent scholarship on beauty to claim that beauty is not merely an aesthetic experience, but also a relational one: When not conscripted into serving unscrupulous ends, beauty can produce profoundly mutual I–Thou relations between an individual, the beautiful entity, and all manner of more-than-human beings. Remote interviews and focus groups with thirty-five residents of Juneau, Alaska, suggest that experiences of beautiful places in the natural world do indeed possess the theorized emancipatory potential, precisely because they invite humans into meaning-making I–Thou relations of which many citizens of the modern world find themselves bereft. The article ends by discussing the findings in relation to contemporary, especially Indigenous, thought on the agency of place.

本文从理论和经验上研究了这样一个命题: 美(特别是对自然界美丽地方的体验)有助于将现代人(和发达社会)从工具式理念中解放出来。本文首先将工具式理念理论化为人类世社会生态危机的主要驱动因素。基于霍克海默的研究, 阐释了工具式理念的影响。然后, 根据布伯的“我和你”关系, 对非工具式的理想关系进行了概念化。根据对美的近期研究, 得出结论: 美不仅是一种美学体验, 而且是一种关系体验。如果美不服务于非道德目的, 美可以在个人、美丽的物体和超人类事物之间产生深刻的“我和你”关系。基于对美国阿拉斯加州朱诺市35名居民的远程采访和焦点小组讨论, 我们认为, 体验自然界中美丽的地方, 确实具有理论上的解放潜力。这恰恰是因为, 美丽的地方使得人类迈入意义创造的“我和你”关系, 然而现今许多公民发现自己失去了这种关系。本文最后讨论了当代(特别是土著人)对地理位置的作用的思考。

Este artículo investiga, teórica y empíricamente, la proposición de que la belleza –en particular, considero las experiencias sobre lugares hermosos del mundo natural– puede contribuir a la emancipación de las personas modernas (y así, de las sociedades desarrolladas) de la racionalidad instrumental. El artículo empieza teorizando la racionalidad instrumental como uno de los factores que impulsan las crisis socioecológicas del Antropoceno. Después de elucidar los efectos de la racionalidad instrumental con base en el trabajo de Horkheimer, el artículo se apoya en el concepto de Buber de la relación Yo–Tú, para conceptualizar las relaciones ideales no instrumentales. Luego, se apoya en la erudición reciente sobre la belleza para afirmar que la belleza no es meramente una experiencia estética, sino una relacional, también: Cuando no se la secuestra para servir fines inescrupulosos, la belleza puede producir relaciones Yo–Tú de profunda reciprocidad entre un individuo, la entidad bella y todo tipo de seres más-que-humanos. Las entrevistas remotas y los grupos de discusión de treinta y cinco residentes de Juneau, Alaska, sugieren que las experiencias en lugares bellos del mundo natural en verdad poseen el potencial emancipador teorizado, precisamente porque convidan a los seres humanos a sostener relaciones significantes del tipo Yo–Tú, de las que se sienten desprovistos muchos ciudadanos del mundo moderno. El artículo termina discutiendo los hallazgos relacionados con el pensamiento contemporáneo, especialmente el indígena, sobre la agencia del lugar.

Key Words:

• Anthropocene
• beauty
• emancipation
• instrumental rationality
• nature

关键词:

• 人类世
• 美
• 解放
• 工具式理念
• 自然

Palabras clave:

• Antropoceno
• belleza
• emancipación
• naturaleza
• racionalidad instrumental

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Ted Schatzki, as well as Andy Wood and Soren Larsen, for their comments on various drafts of this article. I would also like to thank Ofir Klein and Ian Spangler for their assistance in producing the map that accompanies this article.

Supplemental Material

The schedule of questions that guided every remote semi-structured interview conducted for this study can be found on the publisher’s website https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2023.2295392.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew H. John

MATTHEW H. JOHN is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include late-modern societies’ relationships to nature, beauty, and technology, and the role that each plays in imagining, realizing, or impeding post-Anthropocene futures.