Although often shortened to "Ise," the Ise Jingū complex in Japan has over one hundred shrines, some represented by a single rock or tree, scattered throughout the cypress forests around Ise city.1 The two main shrines, the Naikū and Gekū, represent Japan's finest examples of shikinen sengū, the practice of periodic rebuilding in accordance with Shintō rituals of seasonal renewal and purification, and they have fascinated scholars of aesthetics in Japan and the west. The purpose of this article is to (...) explore the role of Ise in discourses that separate Western and Japanese aesthetics, the former usually characterized as static and "idealist" and the latter as dynamic and "materialist." Acknowledging James... (shrink)

I argue that the default interpretation of “aesthetics” should be global aesthetics, and that aestheticians should take as standard preparation for work in the field some basic knowledge of aesthetics in various cultural traditions. I consider some of the obstacles that interfere with a move in this direction and some of the steps that might encourage a more inclusive self-conception of the field.

On the face of it, the expression "nature restoration" may seem an oxymoron, for one may ask whether it makes any sense to suppose that human beings could restore that which is not human. Several writers recently have argued that, strictly speaking, this is nonsense and, furthermore, that the conceptual confusion involved may lead to ethically problematic consequences. In this essay I begin by discussing the problematic perceived in the notion of nature restoration. I proceed to consider Japanese gardens and (...) earthworks, insofar as both types of art forms foreground the relationship of artefactuality to nature. I conclude that the counterintuitive way in which these arts engage us with nature may help us understand the manner in which nature restoration is plausible. (shrink)