Organizers

Stephanie Schuster (University of Basel)

Markus Wild (University of Basel)

Sponsors

Swiss National Science Foundation

Workshop Goals

The aim of this workshop is to investigate how experiences of natural beauty can contribute to the good life of people, that is, to discuss natural beauty’s potential eudaimonic meaning.

Consider the following examples. Encountering the diversity of other living beings and inanimate natural entities can be invigorating and inspire multiple reflections on one’s way of living. Think of cases as diverse as an old gnarled tree, embodying endurance, a flying bird, expressing freedom, or the flow of water, symbolizing strength and adaptability. Furthermore, many natural entities sensuously manifest the inseparability of life and transience. In presenting transience as a necessity, they can evoke hope for change as well as acceptance and consolation in the face of finitude. Think of ephemeral spring blossoms or falling autumn leaves. Moreover, dwelling on landscapes, consisting of a diversity of interconnected entities, can make one realize to be part of it all, to feel at home in the world, and not to walk the Earth as stranger. In some cases, typically sublime environments which embody the deep history of this shared world and the powers that run through it, this feeling can be accompanied by a sense of awe and humble reflections on our place in it. Finally, the varieties of natural entities – reaching from tiny beetles to the infinite starry sky – can invite existential wonder and the realization that being is a mystery and life a gift.

Though many people might agree with the claim that natural beauty’s complete destruction or unavailability would be an existential loss for humanity, few authors in philosophy have addressed natural beauty’s meaning for human flourishing. Taking seriously the significance of beauty, as it is currently investigated in the emerging subfield of existential aesthetics, the workshop’s goal is to improve our understanding of natural beauty’s eudaimonic potential and its irreplaceability. In doing so, the workshop highlights environmental aesthetics’ relevance in the field of environmental philosophy and nature conservation.

Confirmed Speakers

Emily Brady (Texas A&M University)

David E. Cooper (Durham University)

Yuriko Saito (Rhode Island School of Design)

Sandra Shapshay (Hunter College (CUNY))

Call for Papers

We invite submissions on any topic that relates to natural beauty’s meaning for the good life. Abstracts should not exceed 500 words and should be prepared for anonymous review. In a separate document, please send your contact details and a short 100-word biography. You can email your submissions as a PDF to Stephanie Schuster (stephanie.schuster@unibas.ch). The submission deadline is April 15, 2025. Communication of acceptance or rejection will be made by May 15, 2025.

A selection of the papers presented at the conference will be collected in a book or special issue through peer review.

Possible Topics

Relevant research questions include (but are not limited to):

• What does it mean for an experience of natural beauty to have eudaimonic meaning?
• In which ways can the experience of natural beauty contribute to the good life? What is its ethical, epistemic, and religious potential?
• How can existing philosophical work on the meaning of life be brought to bear on the study of natural beauty?
• How does natural beauty affect our relationship to the environing nature and human naturalness?
• Are there existential truths or insights that can particularly or only be found in the encounter of natural beauty?
• To what extent is the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty dependent on the appreciator’s attitude towards the natural world?
• Which works of Western and non-Western philosophy address natural beauty’s eudaimonic potential?
• Which works of art express particularly vividly natural beauty’s meaning for the good life?
• How is the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty affected by natural loss and climate change?
• Which role should the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty play in nature conservation and how does a better understanding of this potential strengthen the aesthetic argument for nature conservation?
• Should there be a human right to have access to natural beauty?
• How can a better understanding of the eudaimonic potential of natural beauty be integrated in aesthetic education?

The Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb, organizes the international conference „What is Beauty?“. The conference will take place at the Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb, Croatia, on December 14-15th 2017. We would like to explore as many aspects as possible of the concept of „beauty“, both from a theoretical and a historical perspective. On the one side, the question of beauty is strongly connected to the realm of art and the production of artworks. In this sense, beside the general questions “What is beauty in art?”, “What makes an artwork beautiful?”, and “When did beauty become an attribute of art?”, we expect to address philosophical problems such as the relation of beauty and the beautiful to other aesthetic properties, to form and content in artworks, to different kinds of art forms, to aesthetic perception, cognition and experience and similar related matters. Subjective and objective aspects of beauty also deserve attention, and so does the problem of the beauty of nature and natural objects and of ordinary objects and events. On the other side, the nature and role of beauty is currently at the center of a large debate that involves – among others – biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, anthropologists, philosophers of biology and scholars in evolutionary aesthetics: Are our aesthetic preferences and attitudes also the product of evolution? Can this problem be understood within a nature/culture dichotomy? Is what Charles Darwin and others used to call sense of beauty confined to humans? What is the role played by the mind-body-brain system in aesthetic experiences? What is the role of emotion and cognition in such experiences? Finally, what are the most common ideas, theories, images and philosophical assumptions concerning “beauty” and “aesthetic experience” that sustain such discussions? And what is their history? Contributions from scholars of different fields that will address these and similar questions will also be welcomed.

If you find these topics among those in which you are interested and if you wish to present a paper, please submit an abstract, approximately, but no longer than 700 words to the e-mail address: beauty2017@ifzg.hr Deadline for submitting abstracts is July 1, 2017. We shall notify authors about the acceptance by July 15th, 2017. There will be 40 minitues for the presentation (we suggest, but not require, 20-30 minutes for the presentation and 20-10 minitues for discussion). Languages of the conference will be Croatian, English, and German. There is no conference fee.

For the accomodation in Zagreb, please see www.zagreb-touristinfo.hr
We are not able to cover travel and accomodation expenses.

The conference will take place at the Institute of Philosophy, Zagreb, Croatia, on December 14-15th 2017.

We would like to explore as many aspects as possible of the concept of „beauty“, both from a theoretical and a historical perspective. On the one side, the question of beauty is strongly connected to the realm of art and the production of artworks. In this sense, beside the general questions „What is beauty in art?“, „What makes an artwork beautiful?“, and „When did beauty become an attribute of art?“, we expect to address philosophical problems such as the relation of beauty and the beautiful to other aesthetic properties, to form and content in artworks, to different kinds of art forms, to aesthetic perception, cognition and experience and similar related matters. Subjective and objective aspects of beauty also deserve attention, and so does the problem of the beauty of nature and natural objects and of ordinary objects and events. On the other side, the nature and role of beauty is currently at the center of a large debate that involves – among others – biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, anthropologists, philosophers of biology and scholars in evolutionary aesthetics: Are our aesthetic preferences and attitudes also the product of evolution? Can this problem be understood within a nature/culture dichotomy? Is what Charles Darwin and others used to call the sense of beauty confined to humans? What is the role played by the mind-body-brain system in aesthetic experiences? What is the role of emotion and cognition in such experiences? Finally, what are the most common ideas, theories, images and philosophical assumptions concerning „beauty“ and „aesthetic experience“ that sustain such discussions? And what is their history? Contributions from scholars of different fields that will address these and similar questions will also be welcomed.

If you find these topics among those in which you are interested and if you wish to present a paper, please submit an abstract, approximately but no longer than 700 words, to the e-mail address: beauty2017@ifzg.hr

The deadline for submitting abstracts is June 15th, 2017. We shall notify authors about acceptance by July 15th, 2017. There will be 40 minutes for the presentation (we suggest, but do not require, 20-30 minutes for the presentation and 10-20 minutes for discussion). Languages of the conference will be Croatian, English, and German. There is no conference fee.

For accommodation in Zagreb, please see www. zagreb-touristinfo.hr
We are not able to cover travel and accommodation expenses.

This workshop focuses on whether a global dominant beauty norm is emerging; one with less cultural variation and less sites of resistance. Some practices suggest this is the case: the increasing popularity of the ‘Asian eye lift’ (sometimes claimed to be required for employment); the wish for ‘golden skin’ (shown by the popularity of skin lightening/tanning creams and procedures); and the increasingly global preference for ‘thinness’ (emerging in countries such as India and Nigeria, where ‘ideals’ have significantly altered). The implications for regulation of such a norm are considered, as a global norm might suggest global regulation, but there are notable tensions here. Within the EU there is the tension between concern to facilitate the free movement of goods and persons and the wish to maximise public health and use the precautionary principle to manage risk. Globally there is often a notable disparity between the rhetoric of safety and responsible practice and the drive to develop new markets.

Abstracts are sought from graduate students and early career researchers for this workshop in any discipline relevant to the topic, including but not exclusively, Philosophy, Psychology, Law, Sociology, Medicine and Gender Studies. Please indicate whether you are submitting as a graduate student or an early career researchers. Please submit abstracts by email using the title “Beauty Demands Workshop 3”. Abstracts should be submitted to Jan Kandiyali at j.kandiyali@gmail.com by 16 July at 4pm. Abstracts should be between 250 and 500 words, and please note that late abstracts cannot be considered. We will cover economy travel and accommodation costs for UK researchers invited to attend.

Confirmed speakers for this workshop include:
• Andrew Edgar, ‘Professional sport and the marketing of body image’? (Reader in Philosophy, Cardiff University)
• Alexander Edmonds ‘The globalisation of plastic surgery’ (Professor of Social and MedicalAnthropology, University of Edinburgh)
• Jeanette Edwards, ‘Beauty as an ethical project’ (Professor of Anthropology, University of Manchester)
• Rosalind Gill, ‘Aesthetic Entrepreneurship: the politics of beauty in postfeminist and neoliberal times’ (Professor of Cultural and Social Analysis, City University London)
• Danielle Griffiths and Alexandra Mullock, ‘Cosmetic surgery tourism: Risks and regulation in a global beauty market’(Research Fellow interdisciplinary Bioethics and Law and Lecturer in Law, University of Manchester)
• Viren Swami, ‘Are we all thin enough yet? The globalisation of the thin ideal and the homogenisation of beauty’ (Reader in Psychology, University of Westminster)
• Shirley Tate, ‘The performativity of black beauty shame in Jamaica and its diaspora’(Associate Professor in Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds)

Join the Network

To express your interest in joining the network and writing a blog (http://beautydemands.blogspot.co.uk), please contact Jan Kandiyali at j.kandiyali@gmail.com

Please note that, while many of those in the network take a particular stand on beauty issues the network aims to facilitate open and respectful debate and discussion. It aims to welcome those with all views and to encourage exchange of views and does not endorse one single perspective.