# AESTHETICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT The appreciation of nature, art and architecture **Opening (not a real abstract):** Aesthetics and the Environment: The Appreciation of Nature, Art and Architecture presents fresh and fascinating insights into our interpretation of the environment. Although traditional aesthetics is often associated with the appreciation of art, Allen Carlson shows how much of our aesthetic experience does not encompass art but nature, in our responses to sunsets, mountains, or more mundane surroundings, such as gardens or the views from our windows. He demonstrates that, unlike works of art, natural and ordinary human environments are neither self-contained aesthetic objects nor specifically designed for convenient aesthetic consumption. On the contrary, our environments are ever present constantly engaging our senses, and Carlson offers a thought-provoking and lucid investigation of what this means for **Authors:** [[Allen Carlson]]