Wild : aesthetics of the dangerous and endangered

In this interdisciplinary work, philosophers from different specialisms connect with the notion of the wild today and interrogate how it is mediated through the culture of the Anthropocene.

They make use of empirical material like specific artworks, films and other cultural works related to the term ‘wild’ to consider the aesthetic experience of nature, focusing on the untamed, the boundless, the unwieldy, or the unpredictable; in other words, aspects of nature that are mediated by culture.

This book maps out the wide range of ways in which we experience the wildness of nature aesthetically, relating both to immediate experience as well as to experience mediated through cultural expression.

A variety of subjects are relevant in this context, including aesthetics, art history, theology, human geography, film studies, and architecture.

A theme that is pursued throughout the book is the wild in connection with ecology and its experience of nature as both a constructive and destructive force.