My Environmental Aesthetics Experience

I had never taken an aesthetics class before nor had I ever thought much of the philosophy behind it - much less of the environment.  No doubt, I thought, aesthetics has it's value, but I did not consider myself much of an aesthete, someone interested in natural beauty.  I didn't know what to expect.  To be quite honest, in ignorant prejudice I always thought I gravitated towards "hard" philosophy.  My first thought upon seeing the class listed as "Environmental Aesthetics" was absolute perplexity - not knowing what that was or how one could possibly develop a whole philosophy around aesthetics - which is something I took as just a matter of tastes.  After taking this class, I hope to become more aware of natural beauty and the value of aesthetics in everyday life.  I think sometimes I may get caught up in "big" ideas or abstractions and miss out on the natural world right in front of me.  John Cage and John Luther Adams, Bugbee and Scruton have taught me the art of "disinterest" which I hope will allow me to appreciate and value the everyday world even more.  As a side note, I think it has taught me to be a little more appreciative of postmodernism as a thinking tool as opposed to a unilateral disdain of it.

Dr. Langguth, I really enjoyed the class.  Thanks for creating it.