The Meaning of Aesthetics

The View from Black Balsam Mountain

A View of Table Rock

The aesthetics of a landscape are the opinions, emotions, and information attributed to a place. Aesthetics depend on an individual’s sensory perceptions (especially seeing, hearing, smelling); his or her basic emotional responses; and information that he or she has learned from other members of a community. Culture and economy both influence the aesthetic preferences of a community. The sensory perception of landscapes has several functions in human society (Steinitz 1990):

• It is a source of symbolic communication.
• It is a source of information about human activities and the environment.
• It can be a source of emotional pleasure and enhance quality of life.
• Beauty may create positive emotions and lead to psychological and physiological benefits (Ulrich 1981).

Like timber, minerals, water, and other resources, beauty is a palpable resource that can be managed, degraded, improved, or commercially exploited (Chenoworth 1991). Aesthetics are an important non-timber value for tourists, recreationists, urban residents, and other groups of people (Chenoworth 1991). Many people feel that it is important that the places they inhabit are pleasing to the senses (Sheppard, Achiam, D’Eon 2004; Shindler, Brunson, Stankey 2002). Aesthetic preferences can affect people’s behaviors in ways that impact land management such as their recreation demands, environmental values, and political opinions (Ribe 2002).

Both culture and economy influence the aesthetic preferences that an individual has or that a community shares. Arts and literature influence aesthetics. If a landscape depiction is significant as an artistic or literary work, the value of the landscape is enhanced. History also influences aesthetics. An historical feature can be a component of the landscape’s aesthetic value (Sheppard, Achiam, D’Eon 2004). Aesthetics can be a component of human health in relation to quality of life: if a person enjoys her surroundings, she will have a better quality of life (Sheppard, Achiam, D’Eon 2004).