On Natural Resonance

This paper explores the aesthetic case for landscape conservation. The main claim is that the experience of beautiful landscapes is an essential part of human flourishing; it is not just an enriching option for all of us and, certainly, not merely a subjective preference for some of us. Beautiful landscapes can make us feel at home in the world; this constitutes their great and irreplaceable value. As a first step, I clarify the concept of landscape (section two), which brings me, in section three, to the concept of “Stimmung”. Section four shows how “Stimmung” (in the sense of mood) is infused into landscape (as atmosphere). Section five distinguishes various ways of how we experience landscape atmosphere, preparing the ground for the specifically aesthetic claim in section six: how, when we experience the atmosphere of a landscape aesthetically, we respond to it by resonating or feeling at home.