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17 - Nature and Aesthetics

Methexis, Mimēsis and Poiēsis

from Part III - Engagements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2022

By
Alexander J. B. Hampton
Edited by
Alexander J. B. Hampton  and
Douglas Hedley
Alexander J. B. Hampton
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Douglas Hedley
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

This examination begins with the poetical exploration of human alienation from nature. It then examines the resilient capacity of aesthetics, particularly aesthetic realism, to disrupt and critique the anthropocentrism that is the cause of this alienation. Aesthetic realism is elaborated through three central, recurrent and evolving concepts: methexis, mimesis and poesis. Taken together, these articulate and enact a relationship between humans and nature that recognises nature’s own inherent meaning and value apart from those imposed upon it by human minds. These dimensions of aesthetic realism are explored through poetry, painting, music and architecture, each in its own way challenging anthropocentrism. In doing so, aesthetics presents itself as a resource for overcoming the disconnection from nature that is essential to addressing the environmental crisis.

Keywords

aestheticspoetryartrealismparticipationanthropocentrism
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Christianity and the Environment , pp. 263 - 285
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

Selected Bibliography

Dillon, John and Tolan, Daniel J., ‘The Ideas as Thoughts of God’. In Christian Platonism: A History. Edited by Hampton, Alexander J. B. and Kenney, John, pp. 34–52. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.Google Scholar
Gaudí, Antoni. El pensament de Gaudí. Edited by Puig-Boada, Isidre. Barcelona: Dux, 1981.Google Scholar
Hampton, Alexander J. B. ‘Ecology and the Unbuffered Self: Identity, Agency, and Authority in a Time of Pandemic’. In Pandemic, Ecology and Theology: Perspectives on COVID-19. Edited by Hampton, Alexander J. B., pp. 17–28. London: Routledge, 2020.Google Scholar
Hampton, Alexander J. B. ‘Platonism, Nature and Environmental Crisis’. In Christian Platonism: A History. Edited by Alexander, J. B. Hampton and Kenney, John Peter. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021, 381–407.Google Scholar
Hildegard of Bingen. Liber divinorum operum I.1.2. The Book of Divine Works. Translated by Nathaniel M. Campbell. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2018.Google Scholar
Hopkins, Gerard Manley. Poetical Works of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Edited by MacKenzie, Norman H.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Langland, William. Piers Plowman. Translated by Ethelbert Talbot Donaldson, edited by Robertson, Elizabeth Ann and Shepherd, Stephen H. A.. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006.Google Scholar
Larisey, Peter. Light for a Cold Land: Lawren Harris’s Life and Work. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Ritchey, Sara Margaret. Holy Matter: Changing Perceptions of the Material World in Late Medieval Christianity. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014.Google Scholar
Thomas, Traherne, The Works of Thomas Traherne VI: Poems from the ‘Dobell Folio’, Poems of Felicity, The Ceremonial Law, Poems from the ‘Early Notebook’. Edited by Ross, Jan. Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer, 2014.Google Scholar
Viladesau, Richard. ‘Art and Meaning’. In Christian Platonism: A History. Edited by Hampton, Alexander J. B. and Kenney, John, pp. 408–431. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.Google Scholar
Vilakazi, Benedict Wallet. Inkondlo kaZulu. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1944.Google Scholar

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