The Necessity for a New View of Nature

The world is on fire. Remaining on our current path is beginning to appear more and more absurd. We must shift our focus and our view of nature as real change will only come through a radical shift in our ontological foundations.

As I see it, there are two key factors that inhibit us from being truly free and making decisions based on our own free will. The first factor is the missing knowledge of, and confidence in, that we are nature. The second factor is our disdain for the past’s experience and view of nature. I see the aesthetic sense of nature as the key to understanding that we are a part of nature. Without an aesthetic sense of nature, we will never fully grasp that we in fact are nature, and we clearly cannot change lifestyles and society radically without thinking in a radical way. To believe that this is not a necessary course of action is not only naïve, but wholly foolish and an expression of arrogance and ignorance. It is impossible to change our habits, our lifestyle, and everything around us while remaining the same within.

We are living with an antiquated view of nature, and in order to grasp the need for a contemporary philosophy towards nature we must acknowledge our inseparable relationship with nature and allow ourselves to flow in unison with it. Curiously, the most recent generations have lacked interest in developing a modern philosophy towards nature. In Europe, the view of nature is still of that which is described in a centuries-old notion of an untouched nature, a notion which has influenced our ideas of originality, authenticity, and the right to subject nature to our will as we see fit. I envision a practical philosophy towards nature which encompasses the aesthetic, natural phenomena, ethics, and freedom as defined in relationships between society, personal life, and every day.

The acknowledgment of equality in nature, of unity instead of division, frees us of the inherited delusion that we stand outside of, and above nature. I can ascertain that there is an urgent need for a new philosophy towards nature that, on the one hand is critical towards the language of natural sciences, and on the other focuses on what it means to live with the modern notion that we are just as much a part of nature as a butterfly, a thistle, or a cloud.

We can begin where Alexander von Humboldt, the 1800’s German renaissance man and natural scientist, left off. Humboldt asserted that societal structures, politics, climate and flora are all interlinked in an age where the accepted method of natural sciences divided this interconnected system into separate disciplines. All known natural phenomena were divided into distinct disciplines such as zoology, astrology, botany, or geology, and the opportunity to perceive and understand the natural world as an interconnected system was shunned and even considered heretical. The duty of science was not to find relationships between things, but rather to describe phenomena through cataloguing and hierarchical categorization as a means of finding order and control over the natural world.

When we feel nature welcoming us, we experience that the rational world order is simply a mirage that stands in the face of a great decline.

The aesthetic sense of nature can only be experienced unconditionally. Unconditionally? That almost sounds like an attack on the entire western world’s rational language and order. And it is! Because the western world order doesn’t allow any space for aesthetics. When others step back and make room, rationality steps forward and occupies the space. However, the rational world order is a constructed experiment, and not a fundamental reality. The rational world order is a hindrance to the formation of a free society and a life in engaged harmony with nature. The transition to more climate friendly and sustainable behaviour will not happen through rational arguments, scientific evidence, or technological discovery. If this was at all possible, it would have happened a long time ago.

When I am embraced by the beauty of nature, it fills me with joy, lightness, and warmth. Nature can even give me chills, goosebumps or shivers and regardless of the feeling nature instil in me, I simply feel better. My whole body relaxes, and aches and pains disappear, and I feel alive again. I can feel that I am fully present and therefore, one could argue, I am particularly interested in this feeling of nature. However, this feeling is not an interest, but more a fundamental necessity and it is detrimental to my mental state if not attained. I can become weak, sometimes ill, depressed, angry, aggressive and sceptical, self-centred and closed-minded when kept from meeting this fundamental need. This feeling of nature is indefinite, but I simply “must” obtain this feeling in order to sense that I am alive, I am free, and in order to see the world from the viewpoint of other beings. As such, the aesthetic experience is a form of upbringing. An upbringing in seeing the world through the eyes of others, through their senses, and through their thoughts. Such an upbringing not only makes us better people, but also strengthens us all ethically.

The only things left when helplessness takes control are doubt, anxiety, and fear.

Nature as we see it today is totally ravaged. Biodiversity is on the decline, soil quality is threatened, water and air pollution are on the rise, and our natural resources are being depleted faster than they can be replenished. This version of nature is not conducive to an aesthetic sense of nature, and therefore can not connect people to one another. When the aesthetic sense of nature can not be grasped, we are denied the vital energy we need to thrive and our inner drive to build social communities is weakened. This further diminishes our human culture, which is in the end a much stronger driving force for a good life than that of politics or economics. Even when nature rages against us and natural phenomena, also called disasters, ravage civilization — both mentally and physically destroying homes, infrastructure, and entire cities — it wakes within us a greater motivation to shift course. However, we still see the image of a society that finds it easier rise and rally around “someone” rather than around “something.” As if we can’t understand a thing as important unless we can see it personified. The notion that humanity as the most significant thing on earth impedes us from seeing alternative paths. Our capitalist reality and lifestyle has eliminated all other notions and dreams of “the good life.” Capitalism has become so deeply integrated in everyday life that it has become impossible to find a useful or convincing alternative for a better life. Not just a better life for us, but also a better life for all life. Newton’s 1st law states that only with a combined and greater force is it possible to change direction of an object in motion, otherwise nothing changes, and everything continues as it has. How can we develop the social relations that can promote the creative power necessary to change course? Critically examining the capitalist reality, we can pinpoint mistakes and shortcomings without really doing anything about it. Without sincerity, we fail to change the things we criticize. It is as though a part of our western culture is to apologize, to criticize ourselves and our society, and to come to hasty conclusions all while settling on the assumption that “that’s just the way things are.” We spend more time trying to figure out what went wrong than trying to prevent it from happening in the first place and many people end up convincing themselves that we can’t do anything about it anyways. This is an expression of helplessness; a self-imposed weakness that spreads doubt, scepticism, anxiety, and fear.

When we encounter the presence of nature, we can make decisions that incite real change. The aesthetic sense of nature is the one thing that can triumph over the idea that we can only come together around “someone” and not “something.”

Nature is not magic. It is not a picturesque view to be regarded from a distance. It is inclusive. Only when we allow ourselves to be embraced by it do we begin to understand just how great a need we have for its presence. We do not have a choice as to whether we are a part of nature or not, but we can fight it by considering nature as something separate from humanity. However, if we give up this fight and allow ourselves to be filled with the aesthetic sense of nature, we experience real freedom and that there is something found in nature which is much greater than ourselves. This is something that we have an innate need to share with others. We are social beings and when our social cohesion is destroyed, we are filled with anxiety, discomfort, and loneliness. In nature, we meet as equals, and therefore nature is perhaps the best place to anchor our social relations. The aesthetic sense of nature gives each one of us the feeling of belonging to a social community where we can share our experiences, feelings, and thoughts with one another.

A sense of reality is essential to our ability to navigate and make decisions in critical situations such as climate, biodiversity, and resource crises. Even with scientifically documented evidence, it is impossible to mobilize the societal power necessary to meet the required level of change needed in our overall behaviour. The climate crisis is presented to us as an oncoming disaster that, despite thorough communication, fails to rouse enough people to action. Is it because we as humans can’t possibly imagine such a catastrophe? When Humboldt considered the interconnectedness of everything in the world, he realized that because of the way we manufactured nature, took advantage of its resources and regulated its processes, that we would bring forth all-encompassing problems in terms of our quality of life. However, this point of view was only shared by a few others, and 200 years would pass before the world was confronted with the realization that the notions which he warned against were in fact a reality. We must make it our ethical duty to answer to the consequences of this reality, to change course, and to shift our lifestyle and views of nature as a response to the challenges our self-imposed reality brings upon us. The German society and academy of science excluded Humboldt, as they found his statements about civilization too offensive and dangerous.

We must adjust our view of nature and create space for the whole of nature, including the ugly, the slimy and the smelly parts of nature — all parts of the nature that can be found in our new “shared green world.”

We have become comfortable in a world in which we view nature as something we have domesticated and tamed. We look past and reject anything that doesn’t fit into this constructed image of nature: the imperfect, the gross, the slimy and smelly, the dangerous, the nauseating and bacteria-ridden, the virus-infected and sick, the dark and threatening unknowns: all parts of a nature that we don’t want to have anything to do with. We have managed for hundreds of years to suppress nature but is no longer allowing itself to be subjugated to our will. Over centuries, we have greedily consumed the planets resources and justified our actions through our capitalist lifestyles, our notions of power, and our egocentric understanding of freedom and we have thereby destabilized the very foundations for life. The notion of freedom has caused those of us in the western world to idealize nature and thereby consider it as a portrait for our amusement and recreation. We close our eyes, smell the flowers, and happily ignore the havoc wreaked by agriculture and the nitrogen polluted water that seeps through the monocultures of genetically modified wheat fields swaying in the wind, golden and a free from anything considered a weed, pest, or invasive species.

Our need for beauty and a deep dialogue with this beauty is overshadowed by artificially manufactured needs that confuse, stress and divert our focus away from the beauty of nature and towards the grotesque: a nature robbed of freedom. This desecrated nature appears to us as polluted water, soil and air, an altered climate and failing ecosystems which reveal to us not the beauty of nature, but the hideous and disfigured results of humanity’s predatory practices towards nature. What I mean by a nature robbed of its freedom is a nature which we have viewed solely as a resource to be exploited for our gain. A free nature is something radically different. It is a nature after its own will, is without purpose or objective and therefore free and untamed without falling prey to human interests. The ethical practice of freeing nature springs forth from the aesthetic sense of nature. An alternative green world offers a life in harmony and coexistence with a nature that is conceived and created in order to provide ample space for freedom and for the fundamental necessity of natural beauty, which in turn allows us to focus our energy on acting ethically. I imagine an ecological society replacing the economical society. Why does the green movement focus so much on economics instead of transformation of lifestyles?

The deprivation and absence of nature is the root of evil.

In our cohabitation with nature, we become aware of how good it is for us. Not simply for the value in its resources and utility, but also its aesthetic value. We feel noticeably better in the presence of nature than in its absence. It is my understanding that both the absence of nature and the lack of opportunity to experience the aesthetic sense of nature hinders us in changing our present conditions.

In nature, most of us feel free. Worries are washed away, the drudgery of daily life seems easier, and thoughts flow more freely. It is here that our stream of consciousness is woven together cohesively and reveals to us new patterns of how the world is pieced together. When we abandon nature in our daily lives, we lose contact with the authenticity of the world. The authentic is that which is without deception. I believe that nature is the fundamental source of value from which all other human values derive. Just as mountains have a foundation, a deep bedrock which anchors them to the earth, nature is a type of root from which all else blooms. If nature has such authenticity, it can be said that new nature has authenticity as well. Simply because it is nature. We as humans are not the ones who create new nature, but we set a process in motion, and it develops on its own. Just as the mountains which are anchored deep in the earth change over time regardless of our will. On this point, new nature is separated from art. Art implies an illusion, a notion and a staged scene. New nature exists without us taking interest in it while art demands to be seen, experienced, and felt.

New nature and art are one in the same and contains the seed from which a better world and a new foundation for life can sprout.

The current nature which we are creating the framework for is a work of art that is formed and shaped. On the other hand, new nature grows and develops freely in agreement with Immanuel Kant’s definition of the concept of nature. New nature is as such, both nature and art. In Kant’s distinction between the aesthetic experience of nature and the aesthetic experience of art, the sublime plays an essential role. Kant explains that the sublime can only be experienced in nature, and not through art. I however have another perception of the sublime as I do not distinguish between the aesthetic experience of nature and the aesthetic experience of art; they are one in the same when it comes to new nature as art. New nature is not something we create as a finished composition in the traditional understanding of art. We create the framework. The design of this framework is tied to the initiation of the processes and phenomena that develop the grown environment into a nature that engages us in the same way that Kant’s nature would. Today, art often has a stronger focus towards social relations and shifting processes rather than on creating objects. In this context, art works through installations, and installations are not sculpture. A sculpture is, in a conventional sense, an autonomous figure which is often clearly defined by its form. Being self-referential, the sculpture can move from place to place, not belonging to any certain time or space. Should a sculpture be created in relation to a specific space, it is no longer a sculpture, but an installation. The space that typically lies between the viewer and the sculpture is not something that can be found in an installation. Here the viewer is a part of the piece and influences it by occupying the same space. This is similar to taking a walk in the forest and feeling its presence; we feel the aesthetic sense of nature and become one with the forest. New nature is such an installation and gains meaning through the presence of humans which are the starting point for experience, acknowledgement, and the aesthetic sense of nature. New nature must show us that it is possible to give up domesticating all that grows and all that is living. Helping us with this realization will allow new nature to freely unfurl itself by its own free will. I am interested in how we can involve people with new nature and how this nature, by its mere presence, can bring us together and inspire us to action. Not just to sit down and look at it, but to embrace it, to allow one’s hands to feel the texture of a tree, or to listen to the plants and to feel what it all means for one’s quality of life. I am convinced that through this type of engagement we can rediscover nature’s essential meaning in terms of our welfare. It is not the lists of the world’s endangered species that will cause us to react, but the deafening silence left from the absence of birdsong in the forest.

The aesthetic sense of nature is a new step for humanity.

As a point of departure, I would like to refer to the philosophical understanding of the concept of aesthetic, as laid out by Kant in 1790. More precisely in his definition of an experience of beauty that both is and is not dependent on the concepts of recognition and ethics. Understood philosophically, aesthetics is a belief that deals with both beauty and the sensory. The authentic sense of nature is therefore closely bound to and precedes the experience of beauty. I imagine that we have all had encounters with nature that gave us a feeling of being a part of something greater than ourselves: moments of great beauty experienced during a walk through the forest, while surrounded by foggy mountains dressed in pine trees, or on an open ocean as still as glass. This state of being is an example of the aesthetic sense of nature and in these moments, we experience a strong relationship to nature as we are surrounded and enveloped in it. We remember this experience of the aesthetic sense of nature as something special, something beautiful. Remembering this feeling is aesthetic experience. Allowing oneself to be led by it, is an aesthetic intuition. Experiencing this beauty changes our ways of thinking. The experience is personal, and it is a feeling that can neither be measured nor quantified but shared with others.

The aesthetic community is carried by the need to share sensory experiences in nature.

In nature we realize that natural beauty brings us together in a community where we have a need to share our aesthetic sense of nature with each other. This is the foundation of our ability to have conversations about the sensory, to exchange ideas, and to discuss. Not necessarily to reach agreement or decide what is right or wrong, but to expand our understanding and perception. I imagine a constant, circular discussion as the groundwork for a new philosophy of nature. The absence of nature and of the experience of nature promotes the conditions in which the outdated views of nature, views in which humans lie at the centre and placed above nature. Without nature, these conditions can be maintained and adhered to throughout any sort of crisis. This outdated view of nature is tightly woven together with the conditions western civilization has developed over time, and western civilization bears the responsibility for creating these conditions. Today, we are one with the problems which we have ourselves created, and these are the terms with which we either must come to learn to live with, or do something about in order to change them, because these problems won’t go away on their own. I see a sense of reality as a safeguard against the conditions in society that hinder the aesthetic sense of nature from fostering free and creative people, and the sense of community is what makes it possible for us to form a freer society than we have today. This ability to change and impact the world around us can be qualified when we sense and feel nature’s phenomena. Nature is paramount our development towards becoming free and whole people.

The development of a new view of nature as the groundwork for the perception of reality.

We share both the aesthetic sense of nature and the aesthetic experience with others, and it is my assertion that both are essential for us both as individuals and as a community to create a life in deep coexistence and intergrown with nature. These are the foundation of an ethical code which will guide us in the upbringing of a society, on both the large scale and the local, which is carried by the values of freedom and social community. The aesthetic sense of nature is the first step in moving towards a society in which every individual can feel free and embrace their own free will as key value of life. Furthermore, both the aesthetic sense of nature and the aesthetic experience make it possible to expand on this line of thinking. Both Hannah Arendt and Immanuel Kant discuss an expanded line of thought that includes others’ viewpoints and reflections. In the common effort to form a free and playful society conditioned by nature, we need to share our experience of nature with one another, and the aesthetic sense of nature is something that many need to rediscover as something meaningful, and thereby rediscovering the feeling of living a meaningful life. In an existence removed from the beauty of nature and its phenomena — an existence in which we see nature as dangerous and something that should be fought against and controlled — it is incredibly difficult to get used to nature, to allow oneself to be embraced by it, and to allow it to be unrestricted and without conditions. I assert that the need for a new view of nature is a fundamental necessity to humanity. It is not an artificially made necessity created by external forces. It is as vital a necessity to us as drinking clean water and breathing clean air are in order to function as whole, healthy people. We have an aesthetic need which is founded on feeling and sensing, and when this need is not met, we become stunted, frustrated, sad, aggressive and self-centred. We lose our freedom. The beauty of nature supports our need to live in freedom and shows us that we are in fact a part of nature and all its phenomena and beauty. Therefore, nature should be present where we live, work, and play so that we can become whole humans. A whole person is a social person who has a need to share the pure sense of reflection with others. As social beings, we humans are oppressed in the absence of nature.

Conversation and constant discussion are the path to insight and action.

The aesthetic discussion is a free conversation without a conclusion, and there is no authority in this conversation to stop it or to decide whether something is right or wrong. The sensory experience is the starting point for the conversation, and it leads the individual towards an even deeper understanding and insight. The aesthetic perception only becomes communal when one shares their experiences with others, further developing one’s creative nature via discussion and the ability to express oneself more in feelings and senses rather than through intellect. This aesthetic conversation is an important link in the efforts to create a life of freedom in close relation to the beauty of nature.

We need to free ourselves from the cultural focus on visual stimuli and concentrate more on the feeling from which these originate rather than the visual, the formal, or the physical expression. This feeling comes from within, and it doesn’t have to do with seeing the pines standing in the forest, but in feeling the sensation that arises in the body when wandering amongst them. The sublime is such an intense experience of natural beauty that it awakes wonder from within. I feel my own freedom and find strength in this wonder, and meeting this inconceivable and boundless phenomenon gives me the power I need to focus on living free and on living freely together with, and in respect for, all life.

(Editor / WANG Yilan)