Abstract

Emily Brady

Nature, Aesthetic Judgment and Sympathetic Imagination

This paper explores the significance of Smith’s ideas for defending non-cognitivist theories of aesthetic appreciation of nature. Objections to non-cognitivism argue that the exercise of emotion and imagination in aesthetic judgment potentially sentimentalizes and trivializes nature. I argue that although directed at moral action, Smith’s views can be usefully applied to address this problem. First, sympathetic imagination may afford a deeper and more sensitive type of aesthetic engagement. Second, in taking up the position of the impartial spectator, aesthetic judgments may originate in a type of self-regulated response where we stand outside ourselves to check those overly humanizing tendencies which might lead to a failure in appreciating nature as nature.