Aesthetics is about sensations, experiences and emotions – but also about the rational mind that guides them. At the centre lies the feeling, sensing and thinking individual. The world unfolds from within oneself. No matter how remote a spot one chooses, it becomes the centre of the world; everyone travels with his own centre of the world, inevitably. He is, I am, the centrepoint.

The core question in aesthetics now and in the future is, how to combine philosophical theory with practice. Though reference is made to applied philosophy, and particularly to applied ethics, it is seldom made to applied aesthetics, even though we have a social need for it. The function of applied environmental aesthetics is to lay a foundation for practical actions. The goal is to connect the theoretical side closely to everyday problem solving. This means proceeding from a "passive" outsider aesthetics (...) to an "active", influencing and participating insider aesthetics. The process begins with a theory of applicability, after which actual problem cases follow. The aesthetic point of view is united with ethical, social, and cultural discussions, as well as with the expertise of environmental professionals in education, administration, design and planning, business, etc. The theoreticians and the practitioners form two teams, which should meet and co-operate with each other. In stepping from being a bystander to becoming a participant, the aestheticians will link their work to a network of specialists and professionals. (shrink)

I see two important turning points in environmental aesthetics. In a definitive article, 'Contemporary aesthetics and the neglect of natural beauty', R.W. Hepburn in 1966 laid out the field and its tasks; Harold Osborne demonstrated the problem of externality and its solution in his 1979 paper 'An intellectual crisis in aesthetics '. Within this framework, a dynamic and innovative field of research has developed and grown, the future of which lies in the interaction between theory and practice and co-operation between (...) the various parties involved. (shrink)