Single Idea 18548

[catalogued under 21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 5. Natural Beauty]

Full Idea

The experience of natural beauty is not a sense of 'how nice!' or 'how pleasant!' It contains a reassurance that this world is a right and fitting place to be - a home in which our human powers and prospects find confirmation.

Gist of Idea

Natural beauty reassures us that the world is where we belong

Source

Roger Scruton (Beauty: a very short introduction [2011], 2)

Book Reference

Scruton,Roger: 'Beauty: A Very Short Introduction' [OUP 2011], p.55


A Reaction

To call it a 'reassurance' and 'confirmation' sounds like theism, anthropomorphism, or the pathetic fallacy. That said, this is certainly a heart-warming idea, and hence must contain a grain of truth.