© British Society of Aesthetics 2005
In Defence of Extreme Formalism about Inorganic Nature: Reply to Parsons
Nick Zangwill, St Anne's College, Oxford OX2 6HS. Email: nick.zangwill{at}philosophy.oxford.ac.uk
I defend extreme formalism about inorganic nature against arguments put forward by Glenn Parsons. I begin by laying out the general issue over aesthetic formalism, and I describe the position of extreme formalism about inorganic nature. I then reconsider -Ronald Hepburn's beach/seabed example. Next I discuss the notions of function in play in our thinking about inorganic nature. And lastly I consider Parsons's flooding river example. I conclude that extreme formalism about inorganic nature is safe from Parsons's arguments.